Memphis Safe Task Force member fatally shoots suspect, marking second death in four days

A member of the Memphis Safe Task Force allegedly killed a suspect while serving a warrant Wednesday, just days after two other task force members killed a different suspect in the Tennessee city over the weekend.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is reviewing the circumstances of both fatal shootings. The first involved two members of the National Guard, who fatally shot a suspect Sunday whom they claimed had allegedly fired a weapon at them. 

The second shooting was allegedly committed by a Drug Enforcement Administration agent who was serving a drug warrant out of Shelby County. The suspect was in a hotel room and refused to open the door for the federal agents, so they knocked the door down, U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Brady McCarron told the Associated Press.

The Marshals Service said the suspect was killed after pointing a handgun at task force members, but a TBI news release said the cause of the shooting was still under investigation. No task force member or law enforcement officer were injured.

“For reasons still under investigation, the situation escalated, resulting in a DEA agent firing into a room, striking a man and killing him," the press release said.

The shootings come after President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard to Memphis in a bid to crack down on crime in the city. As of June, the Memphis Safe Task Force, a federal, state and local effort that the president established, had arrested more than 10,000 people and seized 1,178 illegal firearms.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.