This story has been republished with permission from Tennessee Lookout. Read the original story here.
The Shelby County District Attorney’s office on Wednesday released three brief videos from inside a Burger King where a federal agent assigned to the Memphis Safe Task Force fatally shot Darrin Pigram on May 13.
The videos were released two days after District Attorney Steve Mulroy announced he will not pursue charges against the Drug Enforcement Administration officer who killed Pigram, 41, at his workplace while attempting to serve an arrest warrant.
No body-worn camera footage from the agents involved was available, according to a statement from Mulroy’s office. He cited “public interest and interest of transparency” in his decision to release the videos, which are “the available footage collected during the investigation,” the statement said.
The shooting took place in the small confines of the Burger King kitchen within close proximity to several workers. Restaurant equipment blocks the view of key moments during the incident, which were captured by stationary surveillance cameras inside the Burger King.
None of the videos, which range between 15 seconds and 45 seconds, capture Pigram reaching for a gun in his waistband, as task force officers alleged.
The videos do not provide a clear view of the agent firing shots.
Portions depict the aftermath of the shooting as Pigram falls to the floor just under the drive-through window as a coworker cowers nearby. None of the videos have audio.
Four Memphis Safe Task Force fatal shootings in two months
Pigram’s death was the first of four fatal shootings by members of the Memphis Safe Task Force within two months.
A week after Pigram was killed, 25-year-old Jonah Neal was fatally shot by a Homeland Security Investigations officer assigned to the task force, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which investigates shootings by law enforcement officers.
Tyrin Johnson, 20, died on July 5 after two Tennessee National Guard members opened fire while chasing him on foot. According to the TBI, Johnson had brandished a gun.
Four days later, Alfonso Ivy, 47, was shot and killed inside a Memphis hotel by officers serving a warrant for felony drug charges, a statement from TBI said. Ivy pointed a gun at the officers, according to the bureau.
All four men killed were Black.
The TBI declined to release evidence in any of the four cases, citing Tennessee law shielding records during ongoing investigations.
On Wednesday, the TBI declined to release its investigative files in Pigram’s death. “The case you have requested remains open,” the agency’s public records request coordinator said via email. The coordinator did not respond to follow-up questions seeking further clarification of the investigation’s status.
The videos
What follows are detailed descriptions of the videos released by the Shelby County DA:
A video aimed at the restaurant’s front counter shows a uniformed officer entering the restaurant holding a rifle at 9:24 am. The officer gestures behind the serving counter, appearing to motion for the employee door separating the restaurant from the kitchen to be opened.
Mulroy, in a letter describing his decision not to prosecute the officer, said it was Pigram who opened the door to the officer.
Mulroy’s letter described two DEA officers entering the restaurant holding rifles. The agents later told investigators that Pigram became “visually and verbally aggressive” at the employee door after learning he was being served an arrest warrant and attempted to “push the agents off” and “close the door between himself and the agents.” One agent described a “pulling match” at the door.
Mulroy’s letter noted that restaurant video contradicted those accounts.
The video shows Pigram opening the door. As he does, a second officer, holding a rifle in both hands, comes into view on the customer side of the counter.
Fewer than five seconds later, an agent appears to push Pigram backward, out of view of the stationary camera. The second officer, still on the customer side of the counter, raises his rifle in Pigram’s direction. About 15 seconds later someone who looks like an employee runs out the employee door and outside the restaurant.
A second video aimed at the kitchen captures the same moments from a different angle. (Warning: This video contains graphic violence.)
Beginning at 9:24 am, the video shows several employees in the kitchen. They move to the front of the kitchen, appearing to observe the encounter between officers and Pigram.
Seconds later, one employee ducks and others fall back as several flashes of light appear behind kitchen equipment.
The video then shows Pigram taking several steps backward and collapsing on the floor as an officer holding a handgun trained on him approaches.
A third video is focused on the drive-through window. The Lookout is not publishing or linking to this footage due to its graphic nature.
An employee appears in view, first backing away, then turning into the wall and cowering behind a small computer monitor as Pigram is seen falling back against a counter. Pigram then collapses on the floor. It is only then that the agents’ hands, clasping a firearm aimed at Pigram, come into view. The employee quickly runs away.
André Wharton, who is representing the Pigram family, said Wednesday the footage released “raises serious questions and concerns about the entire unfolding of events, including the rapid and aggressive entry and approach of the agents involved and the ultimate fatal shooting of Mr. Pigram.” Wharton and the family viewed the video in the offices of the district attorney before its public release.
The footage, Wharton said, does not substantiate “some of the critical contentions asserted by the arresting officers.”
Pigram’s family will “continue to pursue justice and transparency,” he said.
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