The family of a man killed by an officer with the Memphis Safe Task Force is calling for a swift and public accounting of the May 13th shooting.
Darrin Pigram, 41, was working the breakfast shift at a Burger King when he was shot and killed at about 9:30 a.m. by a Drug Enforcement Administration officer serving a warrant, according to a brief description of the incident by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which investigates officer-involved shootings.
Pigram was shot eight times inside the restaurant as horrified coworkers looked on, according to Andre Wharton, the family’s attorney, citing communications with the Shelby County district attorney.
A TBI statement said the officer fired after Pigram “reached for a gun in his waistband.”
Melvin Jamison, Darrin’s Pigram’s 33-year-old brother, said his family does not trust the official account. He said it does not square with restaurant video footage viewed by the family in the offices of the Shelby County district attorney.
“Me and my family are still seeking answers on what the officer did and why they took the actions they did versus apprehending my brother,” Jamison said.
“My brother should be here. He wasn’t out on a shooting spree or anything like that. He was at work.”
Man fatally shot in second Memphis Safe Task Force use-of-force incident this week
None of the footage screened by the family shows Darrin Pigram reaching for or holding a gun, he said. Wharton, the family attorney, confirmed Jamison’s description of the video.
The footage included several angles captured by restaurant cameras. Because the cameras are stationary, there are gaps in the footage as interactions between Darrin Pigram and the officers shifted out of view, Wharton said.
What the family could see was Darrin Pigram opening the door separating the counter from the public restaurant space, then backing away as an officer reached for him, Jamison said.
“The video my family saw did not show my brother reaching for a gun or posing a threat toward the officer,” Jamison said. “We were so confused with the footage we watched and how they could come up with … that story behind it.”
Officials have not revealed whether a gun was retrieved from the restaurant. Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy did not respond last week to a message seeking information about the incident, and a spokesperson for the TBI said the agency does not comment on ongoing investigations.
“We are trying to get some clear answers on the firearm, if one was recovered, including where it was recovered from,” Wharton said.
Wharton said his own investigation into the shooting “remains steadfast and ongoing, including seeking full transparency on the entire sequence of events.”
Four fatal shootings in two months
Pigram’s was the first in four fatal shootings over a two-month span by members of the task force, established “to smash the grip of the violent criminals on this iconic American city,” President Donald Trump said during a visit to Memphis earlier this year.
With 2,700 personnel — 1,450 Tennessee National Guard and hundreds of agents from 13 federal agencies including Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security and the U.S. Marshals Service — the Task Force is now the largest single law enforcement entity in Tennessee.
Since its launch in September, use-of-force incidents by the task force have surpassed those committed by any other state or local law enforcement agency in Tennessee.
Of 18 fatal shootings by officers in 2026, the task force has been responsible for four.
One week after Pigram’s death, 25-year-old Jonah Neal was fatally shot by a Homeland Security Investigations officer, according to TBI. Neal’s mother told NPR she called 911 after her son threatened suicide. A TBI statement said task force agents found multiple weapons and that it wasn’t clear “whether Neal died as a result of the agent firing upon him or if it was self-inflicted stab wounds.”
National Guard troops on patrol in Memphis fatally shoot 20-year-old man, according to TBI
Tyrin Johnson, 20, died July 5th after two Tennessee National Guard members opened fire while chasing him on foot after he allegedly brandished a gun, according to the TBI.
Four days later, Alfonso Ivy, 47, was fatally shot in a Memphis hotel after allegedly pointing a handgun at officers serving a warrant for felony drug charges, a statement by TBI said. All four men killed were Black.
Task force officers have been involved in at least three other non-fatal incidents involving use-of-force: two shootings and one instance in which a task force officer hit a suspect with his vehicle, according to the TBI.
The violence has prompted community outrage. The NAACP, in a letter to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, asked for a “thorough, transparent federal investigation.”
Calling the task force a “dangerous operation,” the NAACP demanded its immediate suspension.
Shootings raise questions about training, culture
Wharton said the incidents raise questions about the training and culture of the task force. He’s also representing Johnson’s family.
“The question that remains is: What was the strategy employed by the task force when they came? What were their dictates, their boundaries?” he said. “Was this framed as a war on Memphis?”
“Because without the right guardrails and parameters, it can create reckless encounters by folks who may not be familiar with the local citizenry. That can be concerning when you’re having these interactions, when you’re serving warrants, when you’re making sudden arrests,” he said.
Lauren Bonds, executive director for the National Police Accountability Project, said federal law enforcement officers are generally “ill-equipeed and poorly trained” to do the work of local police.
Bonds cited recent fatal shootings by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Texas and Maine, and past deployments of National Guard and federal officers to Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C.
“We’ve seen federal deployments in other contexts, whether that’s ICE surges, whether that’s the National Guard presence in D.C., and I think one of the common things we’re seeing across the board is more misconduct,” she said. “I think that really speaks to the fact that policing is local for a reason, and there’s a misfit between the skill set of federal law enforcement and rank-and-file policing duties.”
‘That’s not who my brother was’
Jamison said his family’s grief has been compounded by terse official statements about his brother.
In a statement, the DEA described Darrin Pigram as “armed and dangerous, with a violent criminal history.”
Shelby County court records show Pigram has a single misdemeanor conviction in Memphis. He pleaded guilty last year to assault after he threatened to harm his stepfather during an argument, according to the documents.
On the day he was killed, task force officers were serving a warrant for aggravated assault, aggravated burglary and employing a firearm in the commission of a felony.
The charges stem from an accusation that Pigram threatened neighbors with a firearm over loud music in January, court records show.
Jamison said his brother was not a violent man. He was a hard worker who had just been promoted to shift lead at Burger King, responsible for working with the manager to open the store. He was an artist. He loved to play golf and spend time with nieces and nephews.
“Every time you hear about a killing with the task force, it’s always some ‘armed criminal.’ It’s always the same story, different person,” he said. “That’s not who my brother was.”
Jamison said his family wants to see the officer who shot his brother fired.
“We want the officer’s badge removed so he cannot do this to anyone else and so no other family has to experience the pain my family is going through,” he said.
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