A rally is planned for Saturday at the Laurens County Courthouse in Dublin to support the family of a man shot and killed by Laurens sheriff’s deputies during a September raid on his home.
A car thief broke into a pickup truck at the home of David Hooks in late September, taking items from the truck before stealing a Lincoln Aviator.
Hooks, a 59-year-old grandfather and businessman, reported the SUV theft to police, and on Sept. 24, police arrested Rodney Garrett, who admitted stealing the Lincoln. Garrett also told police that 20 grams of meth police found on him were not his, but had been stolen from Hooks’ pickup truck.
Later that evening, deputies obtained a search warrant for Hooks’ home.
According to Mitchell Shook, the attorney representing the Hooks family, Hooks’ wife saw camouflaged men in her yard with guns that night and told her husband, who armed himself with a shotgun.
Shook said deputies “broke down the back door of the family’s home and entered, firing an excessive 16 shots. There is no evidence that David Hooks ever fired a weapon.”
Hooks died of a gunshot wound.
Shook said deputies searched the home for 44 hours and found no drugs.
Saturday’s “Rally for Justice for David Hooks” begins at 2 p.m.
Dublin is more than two hours southeast of Atlanta.
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