The 901: What we know — and don't know — about U.S. marshals-involved shooting

Good Thursday morning from Memphis! This morning, we'll have the latest on Hurricane Laura and lots of photos of the Zoo's new baby monkey for you to ooh and aah at. Also, a housekeeping note: As previously mentioned, I'll be burning vacation time by taking off Fridays until near the end of October, so don't look for The 901 tomorrow. But first ...

After being mistaken for a murder suspect by U.S. Marshals, and then shot while allegedly trying to flee in a stolen vehicle, a teen now faces a laundry list of charges.

The unidentified 17 year old, who allegedly rammed the stolen vehicle into others before he was shot and fled on foot Tuesday, is "accused of committing criminal actions that led to an officer-involved shooting," per Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. Out of the hospital, he faces six counts of aggravated assault, one count of unlawful possession of a firearm, one count of theft and one count of vandalism, our Laura Testino reports.

Following the shooting, about 30 activists rallied at scene — a MAPCO on Elvis Presley in South Memphis — to demand the name of the shooter and that Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland defund police, per our Katherine Burgess, Sarah Macaraeg and Laura.

Before giving a hot take on this messy situation, let's dispel a couple of rumors.

First, despite social media claims to the contrary, the teen wasn't exactly "unarmed" — although marshals didn't know when they shot him, they claim to have found a loaded handgun in the SUV, hence the unlawful possession of a firearm charge. Also, these marshals weren't part of Operation LeGend, a new anti-violence initiative that will add federal agents in Memphis and other cities, per U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant. The marshals were, however, part of the same task force that killed 20-year-old Brandon Webber last year in Frayser, triggering a riot, as mentioned in yesterday's column.

What happened Tuesday was a tragedy of errors.

How marshals wound up trying to arrest the wrong person — only to shoot him instead — isn't clear. That the vehicle he was driving was stolen seems to have been blind luck. If the vehicle hadn't been stolen and a handgun not been found, or if the teen hadn't panicked and tried to force his way out of the encircling marshals, perhaps we'd be talking about how this was next-level incompetence from a task force already under fire.

But that's not what happened. Whether the teen was trying to escape arrest — or just trying to flee from aggressive people in unmarked vehicles — we don't know. Maybe we'll never know. What we do know is that vehicles can be deadly weapons, as recent assaults on protesters show. And in this case, the marshals were the ones who were allegedly under assault. That claim should be investigated, but there isn't nearly enough evidence at this point to make grand proclamations about the teen's innocence.

So, what can we say?

Well, first, that the shooting never should have happened. The marshals should never have made the stop. And the teen shouldn't have rammed their vehicles.

We can also say — once again — that marshals should have been wearing body cameras, as Memphis NAACP President Van Turner called for yesterday, as reported by Local 24. They aren't required to currently. Maybe video from body cameras could have proven one way or the other whether the teen knew he was being arrested.

But at the end of the day, what all of Memphis should say is a prayer of thankfulness that a city that has already seen too much bloodshed isn't mourning yet another life lost.

Hurricane Laura heads toward M-town

After wreaking havoc in Louisiana this morning, the dangerous Category 2 storm Hurricane Laura could make its way through Mississippi and Arkansas to Memphis.

Unless the storm swerves, Memphis could begin seeing the effect of Laura this afternoon or evening, per the local office of the National Weather Service:

Stay tuned here for live updates.

Grizzlies players weigh in on NBA strike

Yesterday, the Milwaukee Bucks and then the Orlando Magic boycotted Game 5 of their first-round series in the NBA playoffs, earning praise and criticism from the sports world.

The point of the boycott was to draw more attention to the latest police shooting of a Black man — of Jacob Blake on Sunday in Wisconsin — as former NBA player Chris Webber described in an emotional video that's been making the social media rounds:

But more to the point for Memphis, the Grizzlies' players took to social media to show their support for the boycott yesterday, our Evan Barnes reports. Check out Evan's story for more player reactions, but here are a couple that stood out:

Speaking of sports: The Memphis Tigers football team's Sept. 5 season opener against Arkansas State will be shown on ESPN during prime time, our Evan Barnes reports. Meanwhile, the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium is expanding its premium seating area, but the stadium's capacity will remain the same, per our Jason Munz. Also, Collierville has canceled its next two games after two varsity players tested positive for COVID-19, our Khari Thompson reports. The school locked media out of its last game.

Memphis Zoo welcomes cute addition

Max Gersh, one of our photographers, is right: Reed, the newest addition to a troop of long-tailed monkeys at the Memphis Zoo, is the cutest thing you'll see today:

Our John Beifuss has all of the details about Reed, the baby François' langurs who was born Aug. 5 in the zoo's China exhibit. The monkeys, which are mainly from semi-tropical southern China and Vietnam, are classified as "critically endangered."

What else is happening in the 901

• For subscribers: Le Bonheur Children's Hospital is seeing a spike in the number of child patients with multisystem inflammatory syndrome, a complication of COVID-19, our Laura Testino reports. (Not a subscriber? Please consider becoming one.)
• Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee praised law enforcement officers and members of the military while likening Democrats to Chinese communists during her prime time speech at the Republican National Convention last night, per The Tennessean. As mentioned in Tuesday's column, Memphian Alice Marie Johnson, who was granted clemency by President Trump in 2018, is scheduled to speak tonight.
• Fiery Germantown Alderman Dean Massey, who previously announced he wouldn't see reelection to his current seat, has decided not to seek election for any other seat on the board of mayor and alderman, our new reporter, Dima Amro, reports.
• Like many crowd-dependent businesses, The Orpheum has fallen on hard times during the pandemic. The storied, Downtown Memphis theater just announced a fundraising campaign that seeks to raise $2 million, our John Beifuss reports. Read John's story for details, but here's the link to make a donation of any amount.
• Know a person in need? Golden Gate Cathedral and Good Samaritan Outreach at 3420 James Rd. in Frayser will give children free food and adults free gas cards from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. today, our Micaela Watts reports.
• The University of Memphis is planning to build a 523-bed student housing complex on Deloach Street, north of Central and west of the campus' Holiday Inn, our Corinne Kennedy reports.
• The state's Black Caucus of state legislators, which is chaired by Democratic Rep. G.A. Hardaway of Memphis, isn't happy with recent statements and actions against protesters. Hardaway is quoted in this story from The Tennessean. Also, speaking of Memphis lawmakers, Republican Rep. Mark White was featured in our Tennessee Voices videocast talking about the new "digital divide" between families that have access to reliable broadband Internet and the ones that don't.

The Fadeout: The Rev. John Wilkins

A North Mississippi bluesman and gospel veteran, the Rev. John Wilkins, this morning debuted "Walk With Me" from his forthcoming album, "Trouble," set to release Sept. 18. Fading us out, here's the video — with lots of photos — from Goner Records:

Like The Fadeout? Check out The 901's Spotify playlist. Want to submit a recommendation of your own? Reach me by email, address below.

Columnist Ryan Poe writes The 901, a running commentary on all things Memphis. Reach him at poe@commercialappeal.com and on Twitter @ryanpoe.

Want to support local journalism? A Commercial Appeal subscription gives you unlimited access to stories and columns. You also get the ability to tap into news from the USA TODAY Network's 109 local sites across the country.