A federal crime task force in Memphis shot and killed a man Wednesday morning, the second fatal shooting by a task force member in four days and at least the fourth since May.
The shooting happened at around 8:30 a.m. local time while U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents were serving a drug warrant out of Shelby County. The suspect was in a hotel room and refused to open the door, so agents knocked it down, according to U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Brady McCarron.
An initial news release from the Marshals Service said the man was killed after pointing a handgun at task force members. A later statement from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which is investigating the shooting, was less specific. It says 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." Authorities have not publicly identified the man.
The DEA team included at least one local Memphis Police Department officer, McCarron said. No law enforcement officers were injured.
The Memphis Safe Task Force was created last year by President Trump as part of an effort to place National Guard troops and federal agents in cities he described as crime-ridden. Tennessee National Guard troops have been serving in Memphis as part of the task force since last fall, after courts blocked plans to send troops to other cities.
The shooting came just days after two Guardsmen fatally shot 20-year-old Tyrin Johnson in the early hours of Sunday morning. Guardsmen said Johnson turned toward them with a gun during a downtown pursuit. Johnson's family said they were told by the TBI that he was shot twice in the chest.
His grandfather, Evaniel Johnson, said Tyrin had taken classes at Tennessee State University, was the father of a young child, and was preparing to help lead the family business. The grandfather is calling for the release of any video evidence from the encounter.
"Show me the video," he told The Associated Press. "Please show me that — and then I'm OK. Until you show me that, I'm gonna fight and advocate for my grandson until there's no breath in me."
Two earlier deaths tied to the task force occurred in May. On May 13, Darrin Pigram, 41, was shot and killed by a DEA agent after officials said he reached for a gun in his waistband while agents were serving an arrest warrant. On May 21, 25-year-old Jonah Neal was fatally shot by a Homeland Security Investigations special agent. The TBI said Neal was armed and threatening to harm himself at the time.
The TBI is investigating the circumstances of Wednesday's shooting, as it has with the others.
