Man fatally shot in second Memphis Safe Task Force use-of-force incident this week

A man was killed in Memphis Wednesday after one or more members of the Memphis Safe Task force opened fire while attempting to serve a warrant, according to the U.S. Marshals Service and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

It is the second fatal shooting in Memphis this week involving members of the task force, a multi-agency law enforcement operation established via a presidential executive order that has deployed hundreds of armed federal agents, state troopers and members of the Tennessee National Guard to the nation’s biggest majority-Black city.

The two shootings this week are among four fatal and four non-fatal incidents involving use-of-force by officers assigned to the task force since President Donald Trump’s September executive order, according to information provided by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

In total, the TBI is investigating eight use-of-force incidents by officers assigned to the Memphis Safe Task Force.

Seven of the eight incidents involved officers firing their weapons, resulting in the four fatalities. An eighth use-of-force incident “involved someone being run over,” according to a TBI spokesperson.

None of the officers involved in the eight incidents has been publicly identified.

National Guard troops on patrol in Memphis fatally shoot 20-year-old man, according to TBI

Wednesday’s incident took place on the 6500 block of Poplar Avenue, according to the official statement of the incident by the U.S. Marshals Service, the lead agency for the Memphis Safe Task Force. 

“Federal and local law enforcement officers were attempting to serve a warrant on a wanted fugitive facing felony drug charges out of Shelby County,” the statement by spokesperson Brady McCarron said.

“After issuing numerous verbal commands for the individual to surrender, officers made a forced entry into the building,” it said. “Additional commands were given for the individual to exit. During the encounter, the individual pointed a handgun at members of the Memphis Safe Task Force. Task force members responded to the immediate threat by discharging their firearms.”

Officers rendered first aid until emergency medical personnel arrived, the statement said. 

While the U.S. Marshal’s narrative of events used the plural “task force members” to describe individuals who discharged their weapons, a preliminary account of the incident released Wednesday by the TBI described a single Drug Enforcement Agency agent opening fire.

“For reasons still under investigation, the situation escalated, resulting in a DEA agent firing into a room, striking a man and killing him,” the TBI account said.

The incident took place at a hotel, where multiple members of the task force arrived to serve a warrant, the TBI report said.

No identifying information about the individual killed Wednesday was immediately released by local law enforcement or the task force. No officers were injured in the incident, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.

Wednesday’s shooting came on the heels of a fatal shooting by task force members in Memphis during the early hours of Sunday morning. 

Two National Guard soldiers discharged their weapons, killing 20-year-old Tyrin Johnson. A statement by Memphis police said National Guard members were assisting them in responding to a report of shots fired. There are 1450 National Guard members currently assigned to the task force.

Johnson was shot during a foot pursuit by police and National Guard members after he “turned toward (National Guard) members with his weapon,” the statement said.

Johnson’s family has asked for the immediate release of body camera footage. Evaniel Johnson, Johnson’s grandfather, told The Associated Press he was skeptical his grandson would attempt to fire at law enforcement and said he carried a weapon for protection.

It is unclear when video footage, police reports or other evidence may be released in any of the eight use-of-force incidents currently under investigation by the TBI. The TBI declined a request to provide police reports in Sunday’s officer-involved shooting citing the ongoing investigation.

“We can not release case files in an (officer-involved shooting) until the investigation is complete,” a TBI spokesperson said. “At that time you can submit an open records request to obtain the information.”

All Memphis Safety Task Force officer-involved use-of-force investigations are “active and ongoing,” the spokesperson said.

Two other fatal shooting incidents involving task force members under investigation by the TBI include: the May 13 fatal shooting of Darrin Pigram, 41, by a Drug Enforcement agency officer assigned to the task force. According to a preliminary statement released by the TBI, Pigram reached for a weapon in his waistband as he was approached by task force members serving a warrant at a local Burger King.

In a separate incident less than a week after Pigram’s death, 25-year-old Jonah Neal was fatally shot by a Homeland Security Investigations special agent who was among the task force members responding to a call about an armed man threatening self-harm.