DEC 12, 2014

Georgia Man Shot While Facedown During Drug Raid, No Drugs Found

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David Hooks was shot and killed by police men in his home late at night on September 24th, 2014. Deputies from Laurens County, Georgia shot him fatally while he was facedown on the floor of his home, according to a statement by his family’s lawyer, Mitchell Shook, earlier this week.

The deputies were serving a “no knock” search warrant to look for drugs. Much like the botched drug raid on Baby Bou Bou’s home that left the infant terribly injured, the law enforcement officers in this fatal case relied on the statement of one known drug addict to obtain the no knock warrant. Apparently local meth addict Rodney Garrett had stolen a bag from a truck and a Lincoln Aviator SUV from Hooks’ property. Hooks called to report the robbery, not something a meth kingpin would likely do.

Police quickly homed in on Garrett, and he was arrested. Garrett said he took a bag out of the truck believing it was full of cash, but instead found a major stash of methamphetimine. He said he was afraid for his safety because he claimed he believed he had stolen from local drug kingpen. According to an October statement from Shook, Garrett was high on meth at the time of his arrest and blamed his possession of drugs and a scale on Hooks out of convenience, not fear for his own safety.

Local law enforcement,  citing an anonymous and unconfirmed tip about meth at the Hooks’ residence years before, quickly obtained a warrant and smashed their way into the Hooks home. Shook also maintains the warrant was not valid. Regardless of validity of the warrent, the officers took less than an hour to prepare for the deadly raid. Sadly, because they had just been robbed, everyone was on high alert. Mrs. Hooks saw the officers in masks outside before they breached the residence. The officers stormed into the house without knocking or announcing who they were, and Mrs. Hooks fled to wake her husband.

Mr. Hooks armed himself, but there is no evidence he fired or event pointed his gun. What there is evidence of are the 17 bullets deputies sprayed the man with as they entered the home, and reportedly, that the last two were fired while David Hooks was incapacitated on the floor.  Police then spent over 44 hours searching the home for drugs and came up completely empty-handed. The family is pushing for an independent investigation and a grand jury review of the raid.

There will be a Rally for Justice for David Hooks tomorrow, Decomber 13th, 2014, at the Laurens County courthouse at 2 PM. Those who are in Georgia and able to attend can RSVP at the Facebook event page here. With any luck, the rally will bring more attention to this tragic case of police murder and pressure local officials to take real action to remedy the situations that led to David Hooks’ murder in his own home.

For previous Ladybud articles about police shootings, click here.