A 59-year-old Georgia grandfather was killed in late September, and now the family is coming out claiming the police’s account of the incident is much different than the actual truth.
On September 24th, Teresa Hooks glanced out her window to see “several men all in black and camo with hoods on” outside her home. According to?The Telegraph, their property had been burglarized recently. Thinking the burglars had returned, she ran and woke her husband up. David Hooks then grabbed his shotgun, and this is where the accounts of what happened start differing.
The Laurens County Sheriff’s office claim that Hooks had his shotgun at the door of his home after?the deputies had served their drug search warrant and knocked on the door stating “Sheriff’s department, search warrant.” They claim they announced their presence repeatedly. They then go on to state that he was ordered to put his shotgun down, but he only responded more aggressively.
However, the Hooks’ family and their lawyer say this is far from the truth.
Mitch Shook, their attorney, states that first off the warrant they had to search the home was “invalid.” Apparently, the information that spurred the warrant was gained from Rodney Garrett, the man arrested in connection with the burglary at the?Hooks’ property two days before the raid. ?After his arrest, he told officers he stole meth, a digital scale, and guns from a car. He claims he turned himself in because he “feared for his safety.” It has been alleged that Garrett was under the influence of meth and is a meth addict. A previous investigation of the home in 2009 also spurred the search warrant; however, the outcome of that investigation is unknown.
Shook claims that?this should not have been enough to cause the sheriff’s office to issue the warrant.
“This search warrant is invalid on its face as it does not comport with the requirements of the Constitution of State of Georgia nor the United States Constitution. “
He also claims that the task force raiding?the home showed up unannounced by any sirens or lights and did not knock or announce themselves at the door of the home. They also conducted the raid only an hour after the search warrant was issued.
“Armed with an invalid search warrant and with less than an hour of preparation, at approximately 10:55 p.m. several members of the Drug Task Force and the Laurens County Sheriff’s Response Team arrived at David and Teresa Hooks home unannounced by emergency lights or sirens. There is no question the Officers were aware the home had been burglarized only two nights earlier.”
Shook also claimed that the amount of shots fired were excessive.
“Despite the fact that the illegal search warrant did not have a “no knock” clause the Drug Task Force and SRT members broke down the back door of the family’s home and entered firing in excess of 16 shots. These shots were from multiple firearms and from both 40 caliber handguns and assault rifles.”
Shook also stated that after a 44-hour search of the home conducted by the GBI, not one piece of evidence was found. He also shared that Hooks was a successful businessman who owned a construction company that worked on military bases, which required background checks by the state and federal authorities, and he was vetted and had security clearance.
It has not been decided whether the family will take any action against the Sheriff’s office as investigations are still pending.
The Sheriff’s office has stated they will no longer make any comments and has not responded to any media outlets inquiries about Shook’s statements.
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Liz Lee considers herself an uppity Southern woman?and hails from the swamps of South Georgia. She has all her teeth and knows how to spell fairly well. She graduated high school and has some college learnin?. She is a wife to a man that ain?t her cousin, mother of one human child, mother to one furry American Bully, and also your typical everyday Wonder Woman. When she hangs up her cape, you can find her curled up in her office sewing while gossiping, writing, playing World of Warcraft, or practicing banjo in hopes of being the greatest at pickin? and a grinnin?. You can follow her on?Facebook?to see what she is up to. She also has a?Twitter?she can’t figure out how to use and is working on a website at this time.
