A member of a federal crime-fighting task force in Memphis shot and killed a person on Wednesday, marking the second fatal shooting by a task force member in four days. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents were serving a drug warrant out of Shelby County at around 8:30 a.m. when the incident occurred.
Details of the Shooting
According to U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Brady McCarron, the suspect was in a hotel room and refused to open the door for agents, prompting them to knock the door down. An earlier news release from the Marshals Service stated that the man was killed after pointing a handgun at task force members. However, a later release from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), which is investigating the shooting, was less specific, saying only that “for reasons still under investigation, the situation escalated, resulting in a DEA agent firing into a room, striking a man and killing him.”
No law enforcement officers were injured in the incident. The DEA team included at least one local Memphis Police Department officer, McCarron said.
Context of the Task Force
The Memphis Safe Task Force was created last year by President Donald Trump as part of an effort to place National Guard troops and federal agents in Democratic-run cities he described as crime-ridden. While plans to send troops to other cities were blocked by the courts, Tennessee National Guard troops have been serving in Memphis as part of the task force since last fall.
Previous Fatal Shooting
In the early hours of Sunday morning, two Guardsmen fatally shot 20-year-old Tyrin Johnson after they said he turned toward them with a gun during a downtown pursuit. The TBI has been charged with investigating both shootings and will turn the results over to the local district attorney general.
