Second person in 4 days is fatally shot in Memphis by federal task force
member
[July 09, 2026]
By TRAVIS LOLLER
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A member of a federal crime-fighting task force
in Memphis shot and killed a person there on Wednesday, the second fatal
shooting by a task force member in four days, and the fourth death
involving the unit since it started in September.
The shooting occurred while U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents
were serving a drug warrant at a hotel room, U.S. Marshals Service
spokesman Brady McCarron said. When the suspect refused to open the door
for agents, they knocked the door down, McCarron said.
A news release from the Marshals Service sent out earlier in the day
said the man was killed after pointing a handgun at task force members.
A later news release from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which
is probing the circumstances of the shooting, is 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.” The Memphis Safe Task Force created by President
Donald Trump was part of an effort to place National Guard troops and
federal agents in Democratic-run cities he described as crime-ridden.
Although plans to send troops to some 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.
Tennessee’s Republican Gov. Bill Lee has embraced federal intervention
while Democratic Memphis Mayor Paul Young took a pragmatic approach,
saying they were coming regardless of his opinion so he wanted to find
ways to use them effectively.
Wednesday's shooting follows another one early Sunday by two members of
the Tennessee National Guard assigned to the task force. Authorities
said 20-year-old Tyrin Johnson was killed after he turned toward them
with a gun during a downtown pursuit. Johnson's family is calling for
the release of video evidence that would show what happened.
Data from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation shows that at least four
people have died in encounters with officers tied to the federal task
force, including at least one other fatal shooting by a DEA agent.
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Law enforcement officers work the scene after a federal agent with
the Memphis Safe Task Force shot and killed a person at a hotel in
Memphis, Tenn., on Wednesday, July 8, 2026. (Natalie Van Gundy/Daily
Memphian via AP)
In mid-May, when task force members were serving an arrest warrant, the
agent shot and killed 41-year-old Darrin Pigram, who had allegedly
reached for a gun in his waistband, the TBI said in a preliminary
statement.
Later that same month, a Homeland Security special agent fired her
weapon when task force members “responded to a report of a man armed
with a gun, threatening to harm himself.” Jonah Neal, 25, was pronounced
dead at the scene, but TBI said at the time it was not “immediately
clear whether Neal died as a result of the agent firing upon him or if
it was self-inflicted stab wounds.”
In a fifth shooting in December, a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper
assigned to the task force opened fire at a vehicle and struck one
person, after the car didn't pull over in a traffic stop. The person was
taken to the hospital in stable condition, according to information
released by TBI at the time.
All five shootings are being investigated by the Tennessee Bureau of
Investigation.
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