A Federal Task Force Kills a Second Person in Four Days in Memphis

A member of a federal crime-fighting task force in Memphis fatally shot a man on Wednesday, the second deadly shooting by the unit in four days and the fourth death connected to it since the task force was launched in September.

The Wednesday shooting unfolded as U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents attempted to serve a drug warrant at a hotel room, authorities said. When the man inside refused to open the door, agents knocked it down. According to a news release from the U.S. Marshals Service, he was shot after pointing a handgun at task force members. His name had not been publicly released as investigators worked the scene.

The death came just days after another fatal encounter. Early Sunday, two members of the Tennessee National Guard assigned to the task force shot and killed 20-year-old Tyrin Johnson, who authorities said turned toward them holding a gun during a pursuit downtown. Two lethal shootings in the same week by the same unit have intensified scrutiny of an operation that was pitched to the public as a way to drive down violent crime in one of the nation's most homicide-plagued cities.

The pattern stretches back further. Data from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation shows at least four people have died in encounters with officers tied to the federal task force since it began operating. In mid-May, agents serving an arrest warrant fatally shot 41-year-old Darrin Pigram, who authorities said reached for a gun in his waistband. Each case has been referred to state investigators, the standard process for officer-involved deaths in Tennessee, though the results of those reviews can take months.

The task force pairs federal agents from agencies such as the DEA and the Marshals Service with state and local officers, a model the Trump administration has expanded in cities it has designated for surges of federal law enforcement. Supporters argue the added manpower and federal resources help dismantle drug and gun networks that overwhelm local police. Critics, including some Memphis community leaders and civil-rights advocates, counter that the rapid accumulation of deadly encounters raises hard questions about training, oversight and accountability when federal officers operate on city streets.

As the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation examines the latest shooting, residents and elected officials are pressing for fuller answers about how the unit operates and who ultimately answers for its use of force. For now, four families are left grieving, and a program sold as a solution to violence is itself becoming a flashpoint in the debate over public safety in Memphis.