Memphis task force shooting leaves one dead during drug warrant raid

A member of the Memphis Safe Task Force shot and killed a man during a drug warrant raid at a Shelby County hotel room Wednesday, the second fatal shooting by the unit in four days. The killing came about 8:30 a.m. and was the fourth death tied to the task force since it began operating in September.

U.S. Marshals Service spokesman Brady McCarron said the suspect was inside the room and refused to open the door before agents knocked it down. An earlier Marshals Service release said the man was killed after pointing a handgun at task force members, but the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation later said 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." No law enforcement officers were injured. McCarron said the DEA team included at least one Memphis Police Department officer.

The shooting came days after Tennessee National Guard troops assigned to the same task force fatally shot 20-year-old Tyrin Johnson in downtown Memphis during a pursuit. Authorities said Johnson turned toward the Guardsmen with a gun before he was shot. Terracle Nelson said Johnson was "as good a boy as can be" and lived in Nashville, worked in construction, took university classes and had his first child earlier this year. Mayor Paul Young called that killing an "unfortunate incident" and said he was waiting for the TBI investigation before commenting further.

The Memphis Safe Task Force was created last year by President Donald Trump as part of his push to send National Guard troops and federal agents into Democratic-led cities he called crime-ridden. Tennessee Guard troops have been in Memphis since last fall, and federal, state and local personnel tied to the task force have made more than 2,800 arrests and issued more than 28,000 traffic citations since late September. The city has about 610,000 people and recorded nearly 300 homicides in 2024 and nearly 400 in 2023. AH Datalytics said homicides and aggravated assaults were already down before the task force ramped up.