Calm sought after tumult in Memphis
Police shooting sparks violence; 35 officers hurt
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Police appealed for calm Thursday in a tense Memphis neighborhood where about 35 officers were injured by a rock-throwing crowd following a black man’s shooting death by U.S. marshals on a fugitive task force.
Elected officials condemned the violence, and the police chief pleaded for patience while the shooting is investigated. But unanswered questions left many people angry.
Shortly after the task force shot 20-year-old Brandon Webber early Wednesday evening, people began to gather in the area and their numbers swelled as some livestreamed the scene on social media. Memphis police initially responded in street uniforms, then returned in riot gear as people began throwing rocks and bricks.
Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said about 35 officers were injured, raising the number significantly from the 24 reported earlier. He said six needed hospital treatment.
During the nighttime unrest, officers cordoned off several blocks in the Frayser neighborhood north of downtown and arrested three people. By 11 p.m., officers had used tear gas and most of the crowd dispersed, police director Michael Rallings said.
He implored residents to wait until the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation finishes its investigation.
After Webber was shot as marshals were trying to arrest him Wednesday evening, Strickland said, protesters threw rocks and spit on police, injuring officers who responded.
Separately, Tennessee Gov. Bill
Lee said through a spokesman that the shooting would be fully investigated.
Lee’s press secretary, Laine Arnold, also said in a statement that the crowd’s actions “are not representative of the community but we stand firmly against acts of lawlessness that threaten the safety of our neighborhoods.”
TBI spokeswoman Keli Mcalister said the Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force went to a Frayser home to look for a suspect with felony warrants. She said marshals spotted the man getting into a vehicle and it then proceed to ram task force vehicles several times before he got out with a weapon.
Marshals then opened fire, killing the man, she said.