
MEMPHIS — The Memphis Police Department confirmed on Monday that two a whole lot more officers had been taken off duty in connection with the death of Tyre Nichols , saying little bar that the two were under investigation as city officials to prosecutors worked to determine who beyond the five officers really charged with second-degree murder should be held responsible.
Those investigations also led to the firing on Monday in two medics and a lieutenant by the Memphis Fire Unit for failing that you should follow protocols, including properly assessing Mr. Nichols’s state of health while he was slouched on the ground against a court vehicle, officials said. The Shelby County Sheriff’s Department is carrying out its own investigation into the actions of a pair of its deputies at the scene; both have been relieved of duty potential the inquiry’s findings.
Officials said that all basic steps cops had been placed on leave on Jan. 8, finally, the day after Mr. Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man, was quit by officers and kicked, pepper-sprayed and punched after he walked off.
One of the officers, Preston Hemphill, landed just before another officer had pulled Mr. Nichols from an individual’s car while it was stopped near an intersection to your night time time of Jan. 7 in southeast Memphis. The identity and participation of the other officer who has been suspended have no been disclosed.
Officer Hemphill’s lawyer, Lee Gerald, said in a statement the one of the four videos ın the encounter that were given by the city on Friday, labeled Video 1, had travel from Officer Hemphill’s body camera.
Considerably on the Death of Tyre Nichols
“He was never present at the second scene, ” invest in officers caught up with Mr. Nichols after a brief ft . chase and beat him severely, Mr. Gerald said of Specialist Hemphill. He added that his client “is cooperating with administrators in this investigation. ”
In the body web camera footage, Officer Hemphill can be seen firing a stun sign at Mr. Nichols as Mr. Nichols runs away.
“Taser was deployed, ” he said to a dispatcher, revealing another officer later, “One of the prongs hit the krydsning. ”
Specialist Hemphill, 26, was part of the specialized Scorpion unit that most was created to patrol high-crime areas of the city, such as were the five officers who have been charged with tough and other offenses. (Officer Hemphill is white, and the several other five officers are Black. )
Officer Hemphill, who joined the Arrest Department in 2020, had been with the unit since November 2022.
The Police Department said on Saturday just that it had disbanded the Scorpion unit. In a statement, law enforcement officials officials said that the “heinous actions of a few” experienced cast a cloud of dishonor on the unit. “It often is imperative that we, the Memphis Police Department, take proactive efforts in the healing process for all impacted, ” the factor said.
Lawyers for Mr. Nichols’s family said which is it was “extremely disappointing” to learn that Officer Hemphill endured been relieved of duty but not fired or charged.
“Why is his identity and the role he completed in Tyre’s death just now coming to light? ” unquestionably the lawyers, Ben Crump and Antonio Romanucci, said in a condition on Monday. “We have asked from the beginning that often the Memphis Police Department be transparent making use of the family and the society — this news seems to indicate that they haven’t grown up to the occasion. ”
The Police Division would not answer questions Monday about the seventh officer. Your spokesman said only that “we will update our social storage devices when additional information is available. ”