Memphis task force fatally shoots armed fugitive at East Memphis hotel

A federal task force fatally shot an armed man at an East Memphis hotel. The shooting happened at the Extended Stay America on Poplar Avenue near Aaron Brenner Drive, and no law enforcement officers were injured. The man who was killed has not been publicly identified.

U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Brady McCarron said U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents were serving a drug warrant at a hotel room when the suspect refused to open the door. Agents knocked it down, and the man pointed a gun at task force members before he was shot and killed. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is reviewing the incident as an officer-involved shooting.

It was the fourth fatal shooting involving the Memphis Safe Task Force since it was created in September 2025 and the second since July 5. On that earlier day, two Tennessee National Guard members assigned to the task force fatally shot a man in downtown Memphis during a pursuit after he turned toward them with a gun. The TBI opened that case at the request of 30th Judicial District Attorney General Steve Mulroy, with preliminary information placing the shooting near downtown Memphis around 4 a.m.

The Memphis Safe Task Force was established by a White House memorandum on Sept. 15, 2025, to end street and violent crime in Memphis through coordination with state and local officials. The unit includes federal, state and local law enforcement, along with the Tennessee National Guard.

Mayor Paul Young has already declared a state of emergency tied to the task force, and community advocates have pressed for more oversight and transparency as the unit’s footprint has expanded across the city. The U.S. Marshals Service puts the number of gang-member arrests at more than 1,000.