Torence Jackson Jr. of Indianapolis, Ind. is dead, fatally shot by a Memphis Police Department officer in a public library on Poplar Ave. in East Memphis after Jackson shot the officer’s partner about midday on Thursday.
The wounded officer was rushed in extremely critical condition to Regional One Health. Neither of the officers was immediately identified.
“Do you know the races of the suspect who died, the officer who shot and the officer who (was taken) to the hospital,” a reporter asked Keli McAlister, a public information officer with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI).
Such is the tenor of the times.
“The individual who was fatally wounded was a Black male. Both officers I believe were also Black males,” McAlister responded.
Shelby County District Atty. Gen. Steve Mulroy requested the now-standard TBI investigation into a fatal officer-involved shooting.
The preliminary basics:
At about noon, MPD officers were called to a business in the 5100 block of Poplar Avenue. An individual was suspected of trespassing.
The same individual is believed to have gotten into a confrontation with another citizen at the Poplar-White Station Library, 5094 Poplar Avenue about 30 minutes later.
TBI reports that “as the two officers attempted to talk to the individual, he produced a weapon and shot one of the officers. The second officer returned fire, striking the individual.”
The individual now known to be the 28-year-old Jackson was pronounced deceased at the scene.
“I do know there were private citizens inside the library at the time (of the encounter),” McAlister said. “I can’t speak to the number nor the ages.”
No other injuries were reported.
