Second person in 4 days is fatally shot in Memphis by federal task force member

[mahatmakanejeeves]

U.S. NEWS
Second person in 4 days is fatally shot in Memphis by federal task force member

https://assets.apnews.com/22/2b/8c4b33e2cf41184f526e8e38bf4e/43755a1e883a420f9bdc429ddadc9c96
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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)

BY TRAVIS LOLLER
Updated 6:56 PM EDT, July 8, 2026

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.

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[Haggard Celine]

1. Memphis and Jackson are just husks of what they used to be.

I used to enjoy going to both cities, but I wouldn't go to either one now.