EAST DUBLIN, GA — A drug task force gunned down a grandfather in his home during a botched late-night raid that was based on the word of a self-confessed meth addict and burglar who had robbed the property two nights prior. His grieving widow is disputing the official story regarding the no-knock raid that led to her husband’s untimely death.

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The devastating incident occurred the evening of September 24, 2014. David Hooks and his wife of 25 years, Teresa, had settled in for the evening; Mr. Hooks was asleep and his wife was upstairs in her craft room.

At approximately 11:00 p.m., she noticed a vehicle abruptly race down her driveway. She saw men jump out of the vehicle and approach her home, donning black and camouflage clothing, shrouded in hoods.

Mrs. Hooks bolted for the bedroom to alert her sleeping husband. “The burglars are back,” she insisted. Earlier that week, the couple’s home had been burglarized and an SUV stolen from the driveway.

Mr. Hooks, a 59-year-old businessman, sprang from his bed and picked up a firearm, then took a defensive stand to protect his wife and home from the intruders. As he exited his bedroom, the back door of the house was breached, and gun-wielding home invaders charged in.

What happened next was described as “chaos.” The intruders used their weapons to send a hail of gunfire into the residence; a total of 16-18 shots from rifles and .40 caliber handguns.

When the gun smoke cleared, it became evident that the intruders were actually a Drug Task Force and members of the Laurens County Sheriff’s Response Team (SRT). Mr. Hooks was killed without returning fire.

The officers claimed to be looking for methamphetamines. After searching the home forty-four (44) hours, not a single trace of narcotics was retrieved.

The warrant — which was acquired only 1 hour before the raid — had been founded on information provided by the very same burglar who had stolen the Hooks’ Lincoln Aviator SUV two nights prior. The self-described thief and meth-addict was Rodney Garrett, who alleged that he had obtained drugs from inside the vehicle he had stolen from David and Teresa Hooks.

Laurens County Magistrate Judge Faith Snell was presented with this information and readily signed the warrant, granting the sheriff’s department the permission it needed to launch a mid-night assault on the unsuspecting couple.

Mrs. Hooks points out some damning inconsistencies in the official version of events versus what she says actually happened. She insists that the police did NOT use emergency lights or sirens, and the police did NOT knock or announce before breaking down their door. The couple had every reason to believe that they were being robbed — again.

The SRT team, on the other hand, claimed that after loudly knocking on the door and repeatedly announcing, “sheriff’s department, search warrant,” Mr. Hooks came to the door carrying a shotgun and pointed it at the officers, who had to shoot in self-defense.

Drawing further questions in the official story was the fact that Mr. Hooks was not shot at the back door — he was shot through an interior wall. According to a statement released on behalf of the Hooks family, the shooters had no way of “knowing who or what was on the other side of the wall.”

Representing Mrs. Hooks, Attorney Mitch Shook said that the “true facts of this tragedy are in stark contrast” to the official narrative. “There’s a lot more to it than law enforcement has reported,” he said.

The attorney questioned why a no-knock raid was performed on the couple; why so late at night. He pointed out that the Mr. Hooks ran two successful businesses and was far from fitting the profile of a meth user.

“There is no question the officers were aware the home had been burglarized only two nights earlier,” read the Hooks family’s official statement.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation intends to review the case.

Georgia has been the site of numerous atrocities and wrong-door raids committed in the name of Prohibition. The blood will continue to flow so long as such wrong-headed laws and tactics are upheld as acceptable.