Officials say Kirtland airman was armed, killed by fellow squadron members during chase

The military says a Kirtland airman was armed when he was chased off base and fatally shot by members of his own squadron in a burst of gunfire that also left one of his pursuers shot in the hand.

The airman, Brion Teel-Scott, a member of the 377th Security Forces Squadron, was pronounced dead at the scene. His body lay on the road across from the Truman Gate, between a Taco Bell and an apartment complex.

Robert Smith, Kirtland Air Force Base chief of media relations, said Teel-Scott had a gun in his possession but would not say if he fired it. Smith said Teel-Scott recently requested a discharge under “other than honorable” conditions over a court-martial on domestic dispute charges, and was set to be sent home to Bordentown, New Jersey, on Feb. 24 — two days after he died.

“He was killed an hour and a half after his 28th birthday. You turn 28 at midnight; you don’t think your life is going to end at freaking 1:30 a.m.,” Shawn Scott, Teel-Scott’s father, told the Journal. “That was his unit. Truman was his gate. … Those are people that he’s worked with.”

Scott said he was looking forward to seeing his son, who has a 9-month-old daughter named Autumn. Now Scott, a Marine veteran, wants to know why his son was killed and said he has gotten condolences but no answers from the military.

KAFB officials had declined to answer questions from the Journal since its Office of Special Investigations took over the investigation from the Albuquerque Police Department, which first responded to the shooting. However, late Saturday, Smith responded with the most detailed play-by-play of the shooting released to date.

Teel-Scott’s vehicle was stopped by his co-airmen at the Truman Gate off Gibson SE, just west of San Mateo, where he had worked as a member of the security forces. Sometime after midnight and “during a subsequent search of his vehicle, drugs were found,” according to Smith, who did not say why Teel-Scott was stopped or why his vehicle was searched.

“Teel-Scott disobeyed the commands of Security Forces and fled the scene, prompting a pursuit by Security Forces,” Smith said. This chase led off base and crossed Gibson SE, according to previous news releases, before security members shot and killed Teel-Scott, and one security force member was injured.

Smith would not say how many bullets were fired or how many security force members shot at Teel-Scott, but “all have been assigned to administrative work details until the completion of the investigation.”

“As standard practice and policy following an incident, the Air Force will conduct a separate Use of Force Review Board to look at the circumstances surrounding the event,” he said. “This is independent of the incident investigation by the Office of Special Investigation.”

‘Nothing’s concrete’

Shawn Scott said he had pieced things together secondhand from other airmen, his son’s friends. He said he heard Teel-Scott was stopped for an expired registration and guards smelled cannabis from the vehicle.

Beyond that, he said, “nothing’s concrete.” Scott said he can’t imagine his son firing a gun at anyone, much less his own squadron members.

“A lieutenant colonel of the squadron reached out to me today to pass off his condolences,” Scott told the Journal Thursday. “But once again, no concrete information or anything about what happened.”

He acknowledged that his son had been demoted for failing drug tests and doing cocaine with other airmen, and had been charged in a spat with a woman whom Scott said was the aggressor.

Smith, the KAFB spokesperson, said Teel-Scott had two “nonjudicial punishments under the Uniform Code of Military Justice — one for cocaine use and one for using marijuana on multiple occasions.”

“Teel-Scott was pending trial by court-martial for charges of domestic violence and dereliction of duty,” Smith said. “He requested a discharge under other than honorable conditions in lieu of court-martial.”

Scott said his son wasn’t a criminal but just wasn’t made for the military.

In the months leading up to the discharge, Teel-Scott complained to family about being put on undesirable details and denied leave requests to go to his grandmother’s funeral, according to Scott, who said his son had filed a complaint against a sergeant in late 2024.

Smith, the base spokesperson, said the leave was denied due to Teel-Scott not fulfilling mandatory “out processing” requirements. He added, “At this time, we have found no complaint filed by AB Teel-Scott.”

His father said Teel-Scott loved to joke and in recent years had pursued a passion for rapping on the side. After his discharge, Scott thought his son might join him in a business venture to start an energy drink company.

“He was a loved kid. The town that he’s from, Bordentown, New Jersey, that place is rife right now with sadness,” Scott said. “My son had a million-dollar smile.”

Scott said he wanted his son to sign a four-year deal with the military, but Teel-Scott signed on for six years. Scott “implored” his son to not join security forces, but that’s what he chose.

“What hurt me the most was that I talked him into going in the Air Force, because the Air Force use their brain, whereas the Marines, they use their brawn,” he said. “I wanted him to be safer. … Me being in the Marines, in combat, I didn’t want that for my son.”