Family demands answers after FBI kills disabled veteran in baffling pre-dawn raid: ‘Senseless act’

The FBI took out a fully disabled veteran in a pre-dawn raid in Tennessee and his family is demanding to know why, claiming the agency has not justified the raid or why they shot and killed Theodore “Teddy” Deschler.

An FBI SWAT team stormed the man’s home in Henderson that he shared with his mother on August 16. Fifteen minutes later, Deschler lay dead according to WBBJ. The 45-year-old veteran never stood a chance.

“It was a senseless act,” Deschler’s brother, Russell Deschler, told the news outlet. “Teddy was a 100% disabled veteran. He had problems. He had severe PTSD. He had depression but he was getting help for it, but this was senseless.”

Bonnie Deschler, the veteran’s mother, told WBBJ that she answered the door as agents pounded on it. They allegedly yanked her from the house and then shoved her into the back of a police vehicle. She stated that when she asked the agents why they were raiding the home, they told her it was none of her business.

The SWAT team slammed the home with flashbang explosives, tear gas, and bullets, tearing it apart, according to the family. The yard was destroyed by the heavy vehicles and the windows were smashed in during the raid.

The brother claims that his brother was unarmed. He also says agents were shooting into the home through the garage window, which meant that Deschler’s position in the kitchen was obscured.

“He didn’t have a weapon on him. He was just trying to get out of the house because it was filled with tear gas,” the brother told the media outlet.

“You couldn’t see. The height of the door and where Teddy was standing when they shot him and killed him, you couldn’t see if he was armed or not and you know he wasn’t,” he insisted. “Because if you look at the door you could see where his hands were full of blood and went down the door. Well if he had a weapon in his hand…”

Alex Morris, who is a neighbor who witnessed the raid, described to WBBJ what he saw after he was awakened by the raid at approximately 6 a.m.

“I heard a loud bang. Then I heard a couple more. I heard the loudspeakers, ‘Come out with your hands up. We’re the FBI. We’re not going anywhere.’ Before I knew it, I was coming out to see what was going on and watched them bust out their windows. I reckon they got him in there.”

Deschler was arrested earlier this year in the wake of a gas station stabbing in a nearby town, according to the Selmer Police Department. It is unclear exactly what transpired in that incident.

The family is demanding that the police and the FBI provide them with details surrounding the arrest warrant against Deschler, how he died, and why.

“They said it’s an ongoing investigation, but they won’t say anything to us,” the brother recounted.

The FBI was less than forthcoming concerning the details of the raid.

“The FBI is reviewing an agent-involved shooting which occurred today at approximately 6:40 a.m. while FBI SWAT was conducting an arrest operation in Henderson, TN,” a statement from the FBI asserted. “The subject is deceased. The FBI takes all shooting incidents involving our agents or task force members seriously. In accordance with FBI policy, the shooting incident is under review by the FBI’s Inspection Division. As this is an ongoing matter, we have no further details to provide.”

The family is considering filing a civil suit against the FBI over the veteran’s death.

State Senator Page Walley of Savannah told The Tennessee Star that the FBI did not inform relevant local authorities that it would be conducting a raid on the Chester County home.

“I’ve been making some inquiries since I learned of it,” Walley remarked, according to the Daily Mail. “I’ve been on the phone with the Chester County Sheriff’s Department and the Henderson police. Neither the sheriff’s department nor the Henderson Police Department were informed by the FBI until after the event.”

“It’s a concern, and I’m doing what I can to glean information,” Walley commented. “I’m going to keep making calls.”

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