A member of a federal crime-fighting task force in Memphis, Tennessee shot and killed someone on Wednesday morning — the second time in four days that a task force member has been involved in a fatal shooting.
The incident took place around 8:30 a.m. while U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents were executing a drug warrant out of Shelby County. According to U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Brady McCarron, the suspect was inside a hotel room and refused to open the door, prompting agents to force their way in.
An initial statement from the Marshals Service indicated the man was killed after he pointed a handgun at task force members. However, a follow-up statement from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation — which is now investigating the circumstances — offered fewer details, 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 hurt in the incident. McCarron confirmed that the DEA team included at least one officer from the Memphis Police Department.
The Memphis Safe Task Force was established last year by President Donald Trump as part of an initiative to deploy National Guard troops and federal agents in Democratic-run cities he characterized as having serious crime problems. While courts blocked plans to send troops to other cities, Tennessee National Guard members have been working with the task force in Memphis since last fall.
The first of the two fatal shootings took place in the early morning hours of Sunday, when two Guardsmen shot and killed 20-year-old Tyrin Johnson. They reported that Johnson turned toward them with a gun during a pursuit in the downtown area.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is responsible for looking into both shootings and will hand over its findings to the local district attorney general.
