Autopsy found Kirtland airman was shot at least 16 times by fellow airmen during February pursuit

Jun. 7—An autopsy determined a Kirtland airman was shot by members of his own squadron at least 16 times during a confrontation earlier this year.
Three of the bullets were fired into the back of Brion Teel-Scott, a member of the 377th Security Forces Squadron, according to the autopsy by the state Office of the Medical Investigator released Thursday.
Kirtland Air Force Base has refused to release certain details since the incident, namely how many airmen fired and how many bullets each.
A toxicology report released with the autopsy found Teel-Scott had likely smoked cannabis shortly before being killed on Feb. 22, which was his 28th birthday.
The airman was pronounced dead within sight of the Truman Gate that he was tasked with protecting — his body lay in the street between a Taco Bell restaurant and an apartment complex in Southeast Albuquerque.
"My heart is broken. That's my son, and that was overkill of a kid in the middle of his prime," Shawn Scott, Teel-Scott's father, said in an interview Friday. "My son wasn't a problem. My son wrote poetry, wrote raps. He's a father — only got to be a father for a doggone nine months. We got a baptism this past Sunday, and my son's not there."
KAFB officials have said Teel-Scott had a gun in his possession but have refused to say if he fired it. Officials did not answer that question and several others this week, including what kind of guns were used by the airmen who shot him.
Instead, a KAFB spokesperson responded by saying the criminal and use-of-force investigations into the death are ongoing. The military's Office of Special Investigations took over the case from Albuquerque police, who responded to the gunfire and disarmed and detained some airmen.
Attorney Joseph Marrone, based in Philadelphia, said he will be filing a wrongful death petition on behalf of the family.
"We're concerned about the initial information that we're getting, not only the autopsy report, with numerous shots to Brion's back... but we're finding out that there were many more shots fired into the community that jeopardized and put a lot of innocent people in danger," he said Saturday. "There's a lot more to this story, and obviously there's clearly a major cover-up at this point, and we're hoping that the military is going to come forward and give us full transparency."
KAFB officials have previously said Teel-Scott had run into trouble through his military career — mainly for drug use — and had asked for a discharge under "other than honorable" conditions rather than face a court-martial in a domestic dispute case. He was scheduled for a flight home to Bordentown, New Jersey, on Feb. 24.
Now, nearly 2,000 miles from Albuquerque, a headstone over his grave at the Ewing Cemetery bears three likenesses of Teel-Scott. His poem and rap moniker "Brilly Da Prince" are etched above his name.
"From day one, they've investigated my son instead of investigating the incident," Shawn Scott said. "... They didn't treat my son like he was one of theirs. They treat him like he was a stranger. I mean, he was pursued like a stranger."
'It's been torture'
KAFB officials have previously said that around midnight, Teel-Scott was stopped by his co-airmen as he tried to drive onto base at the Truman Gate off Gibson SE, just west of San Mateo. The airmen searched Teel-Scott's car and found drugs, although the reason for the search and specifics on the drugs have not been released.
From there, Teel-Scott disobeyed commands and ran, spurring a chase off base and across Gibson, according to officials. Security members shot and killed Teel-Scott, and one security force member was injured with a graze wound to the hand.
In a previous news release from March, the base said all airmen who fired in the incident "have been assigned to administrative work details until the completion of the investigation."
Shawn Scott said he was told by another airman that at least 40 shots were fired at his son.
The autopsy, obtained by the Journal through an Inspection of Public Records Act request, said the 16 bullets that struck Teel-Scott pierced his lungs, stomach, liver, intestines and broke both arms and legs, multiple ribs and his shoulder. At least four bullets, or fragmented bullets, were pulled from various parts of his body and he had two graze wounds.
Shawn Scott, a veteran himself, said he encouraged his son to join the military but acknowledged that it became apparent Teel-Scott was not the right fit. Shawn Scott said he has to look at his son's car in his driveway every day, and last weekend they went through his belongings. He said his son's funeral had over 200 visitors.
"Bad people don't get funeral send-offs like that. My son meant something to people. I mean, he's talked people out of suicides," Shawn Scott said. "My son wasn't no thug, wasn't no gang member. My son was a great dude. Now, whatever happened with him in the military? OK, he lacked the discipline for the military, you kick him out, you don't kill him."

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