A shooting at a Tennessee library on Thursday left one person dead and a police officer critically wounded, authorities said.
Officers were called to the Poplar-White Station Public Library around 12:30 p.m., where they encountered a man who had been the subject of a trespassing call in the same neighborhood about thirty minutes earlier, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Keli McAlister said on Thursday.
The man had started a confrontation with another person inside the library, and when officers attempted to talk with him, he pulled out a weapon and shot one of them, McAlister said. The other officer drew his weapon, shooting and killing the man.
McAlister did not identify the officers or the man who was killed by name, but said all three were Black men.
The officer was taken to a hospital “in extremely critical condition,” McAlister said.
There were employees and patrons inside the library at the time of the shooting, but no one else was injured, McAlister said.
The small library, on a busy street surrounded by high-rise office buildings, restaurants and stores, was blocked by yellow crime scene tape, with two fire engines and an ambulance parked nearby. Memphis police officers and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents were talking outside.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is working on the case at the request of the Shelby County prosecutor. The bureau often investigates officer-involved shootings around the state.
Police use of force is being scrutinized nationally after five Memphis police officers were charged with murder in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols.