Case: 18-10628 Date Filed: 06/19/2020 Page: 1 of 42 [DO NOT PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 18-10628 ________________________ D.C. Docket No. 3:16-cv-00023-DHB-BKE TERESA HOOKS, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees, versus CHRISTOPHER BREWER, et al., Defendants-Appellants. _______________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia ________________________ (June 19, 2020) Before JORDAN, GRANT, and SILER,* Circuit Judges. SILER, Circuit Judge: * Honorable Eugene E. Siler, Jr., United States Circuit Judge for the Sixth Circuit, sitting by designation. Case: 18-10628 Date Filed: 06/19/2020 Page: 2 of 42 In 2014, David Hooks (hereafter “Hooks”) called the Laurens County Sheriff’s Department to report a robbery on his property. Several items including a car went missing, so he asked officers to investigate, and they did. The next day, Hooks was dead—shot and killed in his home by the same police department he had called seeking help. The district court ruled that all claims must go to trial, so it denied qualified immunity to the officers, and they now appeal. On some claims, we agree, and on others we do not. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand. Background The Shooting. As Teresa Hooks (hereafter “Teresa”) got ready for bed one night in late September 2014, she looked out an upstairs window and saw several men clad in dark clothing running toward the back of her home. Her husband was asleep downstairs. The day before, the Hooks’s property had been robbed, so when dark-clothed men rushed toward the door shortly before midnight, Teresa was alarmed. She ran downstairs, banging on the walls to wake her husband. Hooks emerged from his slumber naked, holding a shotgun, and he asked his wife what was happening. The Hooks feared they again were being robbed. But the men at the door were not there to break the law—they were the law. Believing Hooks was involved in the meth trade, members of the Laurens County 2 Case: 18-10628 Date Filed: 06/19/2020 Page: 3 of 42 Sheriff’s Response Team had come to execute a search warrant. Officers breached the door, and seconds later they fired twenty-three shots. Hooks suffered fatal wounds. The Previous Day. To understand what led up to the shooting, we must go back to the day before. That’s when Hooks noticed things missing from his property in East Dublin, Georgia, including a Lincoln Aviator and several guns. He called police, and Sgt. Robbie Toney and Deputy Brian Fountain went to the Hooks home to investigate. Hooks showed the officers around his property while Toney tried to collect fingerprints, which was unsuccessful. Hooks thought former employees might be to blame, but he was not sure, so police left with plans to stay in touch with Hooks. Toney left Hooks a voicemail the next morning and went to the Hooks property, but no one was home. The Garrett Arrest. At the same time, Laurens County Sgt. Ryan Brooks received a call from Beverly Garrett that her husband was ...
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