Federal agents killed a man at a Memphis motel on Wednesday morning during a Drug Enforcement Administration operation with the Memphis Safe Task Force, marking the fourth officer-involved death since the anticrime initiative began in September. Donald Trump established the federal taskforce by executive order last year, amid a surge of federal law enforcement agents to Democratic-run cities he claimed were overrun with crime. All four deaths have occurred in the last two months.
Details of the Shooting
Authorities said agents from the taskforce surrounded an Extended Stay America motel on Poplar Avenue, about 11 miles east of downtown Memphis, in support of a DEA operation. A spokesperson for the US Marshals Service, the lead agency for the taskforce, stated: "Federal and local law enforcement officers were attempting to serve a warrant on a wanted fugitive facing felony drug charges out of Shelby county. After issuing numerous verbal commands for the individual to surrender, officers made a forced entry into the building. 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. Taskforce members responded to the immediate threat by discharging their firearms."
Investigation and Context
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is investigating the shooting. Police have not yet identified the deceased. When Trump signed the executive order last September, Memphis had among the highest rates of violent crime of large cities in the United States. However, violence had fallen sharply in the year preceding Trump's order, as it had in many cities as the pandemic crime spike subsided.
Previous Incidents
Early on Monday morning, national guard soldiers fatally shot 20-year-old Tyrin Johnson as he was being pursued by Memphis police following reports of shots fired near Ida B Wells and Gayoso avenues downtown. That followed the May 21 death of Jonah Neal, 25, when taskforce officers responded to a report of an armed man threatening to harm himself at a home. Police said they found Neal with several weapons inside. A homeland security special agent shot him. On May 13, Memphis Safe Task Force agents shot and killed 41-year-old Darrin Pigram while serving an arrest warrant at a Burger King in Memphis's Frayser neighborhood.
