The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office said Monday that more charges could be filed as part of an “ongoing investigation” into the death Nichols Picturesthe 29-year-old black man who died in Memphis three days after he was struck at a traffic stop on January 7.
Five Memphis police officers involved in the case were shot on Jan. 20 and are now facing charges Criminal charges including second degree murder. two other officers They were also relieved of duty The department said Monday as the investigation continues.
“The current charges do not preclude us from adding additional charges while providing more information,” a statement from the attorney general’s office said. “We are looking at all individuals involved in the events leading up to, during and after the beating on Nichols’ photos.” This includes Memphis Fire Department employees and “people who were involved in preparing and post-accident documentation,” the statement said.
The video was released on Fridayincluding footage from police body cameras and street surveillance cameras, shows officers pulling Nichols from his car, beating him, beating him, and pepper-spraying him.
Shortly after the footage was released, Sheriff Floyd Boehner, Jr. of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office said two deputies who responded to the scene “were relieved of duty pending investigation.”
The Memphis Police Department said Monday that in addition to the five charged officers, a sixth officer, Preston Hemphill, and a seventh, whose name has not been released, were simultaneously released from duty on Jan. 8.
The Memphis Fire Department also said Monday that three members of the department, two first responders and a first lieutenant, have been terminated after an internal investigation found they violated “many MFD policies and protocols” at the scene. The inquest concluded that two EMTs who responded “failed to conduct and appropriately assess the patient for Mr Nichols,” Memphis Fire Department said in a statement.
The five accused officers Members of the so-called SCORPION unit, a group set up by the department to focus on fighting street crime. On Saturday, Memphis police announced that The SCORPION unit has been “permanently deactivated.” Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said in a statement that the unit had been “inactive” since the confrontation with Nichols. the news Jan 27th.
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to clarify that according to the Memphis Police Department, the seven officers were released from duty on January 8, before the video was released.
