MEMPHIS, Tenn. — As the TBI compiles reports on three officer-involved shootings in Memphis this year, local officials remained relatively tight-lipped Tuesday.
“All of those investigations are under investigation, so I will not comment on those,” said Interim Police Director Michael Rallings.
“They are being investigated by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and we will await the delivery of that report to our office,” said District Attorney Amy Weirich.
The most recent officer-involved shooting happened around 10 p.m. Sunday, when an off-duty Memphis Police officer shot and killed a man who family identified as Luis Soto.
“We all love him. We all took care of him,” Soto’s sister told WREG.
The TBI said the unidentified officer was there to “witness a child visitation exchange at that location between a woman and her ex-husband.”
Soto was meeting his ex-wife at a gas station in the 1700 block of Getwell to drop off the couple’s child.
At this point, investigators said the officer was off-duty, and he is the fiancé of Soto’s ex-wife.
Tuesday, WREG asked Memphis Police what policy dictates for officers witnessing custody exchanges.
“There is no policy in place that advises if an officer can or cannot be present when someone picks up or drops off a child,” MPD said. “If while on duty, we are called to the scene of a disturbance of some sort regarding the custody or exchange of a child, we are only present to keep the peace unless there is something criminal in nature that occurs.”
Weirich would not say just yet whether or not she plans to fight to release the TBI reports to the public.
She cited a bill that’s currently in Nashville which she said could give a District Attorney the power to do so without Chancery Court.
“Right now, it’s premature to make those decisions, because I don’t have the reports in my hands, and we don’t know how these are going to end up,” she said.
The TBI will turn its report over to the D.A. to determine if charges are necessary.
The last fatal shooting involving a MPD officer happened in March, when officers said 30-year-old Alexio Allen pointed a shotgun at police and they fired.
There was also an incident in January where officers shot and killed Jonathan Bratcher.
They said he pointed a gun at them after a hit and run.
