Two sheriff’s narcotics officers involved in the shooting death of a drug suspect earlier this year acted with legal justification when they returned his gunfire and killed him, according to Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich on Monday.
The case involved the death of Jason Hill, 40, on Feb. 7 in the parking lot area of the GardenTree Hotels at 6101 Shelby Oaks Drive near Sycamore View Road.
Members of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department Narcotics Division were there to serve Hill with arrest warrants for drug trafficking. Based on information from a codefendant, officers searched for and located in the hotel parking lot the pewter-colored Chevrolet Tahoe with large black wheels that Hill was using. The officers in unmarked vehicles set up a perimeter and placed the Tahoe under surveillance. They were in plainclothes, but wore duty vests with “Sheriff” spelled in large yellow letters.
Rain was falling when the officers spotted Hill walking from the hotel toward his vehicle, which was backed into a space in the parking lot. As Hill reached for the driver’s side door, one officer pulled his unmarked vehicle up to the front bumper to prevent Hill from driving away. The officer’s vehicle had blue lights flashing, the officer wore an identifying vest and he yelled “Sheriff’s Office!”
But Hill ran away, firing a handgun at the officer.
The officer returned fire at least once before his gun jammed. Moments later, a detective exited his vehicle and fired shots at Hill, who fell to the ground. One handgun was found nearby and another was in Hill’s waistband.
The suspect died of gunshot wounds to his right arm, left shoulder, neck and two to the upper back.
The TBI Official Firearms Report indicates that 10 cartridge cases recovered from the parking lot came from the detective’s .40-caliber Smith & Wesson. One cartridge casing was recovered from another officeer’s weapon. Three cartridge casings were recovered from Hill’s Taurus .45 pistol.
The suspect reportedly never said a word during the shootout.
A witness statement said Hill was talking and breathing when he was handcuffed, and officers secured the scene and requested emergency medical aid. The Memphis Fire Department arrived to render aid.
Toxicology tests later showed Hill had amphetamine, methamphetamine and alprazolam (an anxiety/panic disorder drug) in his system.
Officers did not have body-worn cameras, but portions of the events were captured on hotel surveillance video.
Statements were taken from each of the seven narcotics team officers who witnessed events from different vantage points. Five officers said they saw Hill running and shooting at an officer.
“The suspect (Hill) immediately fled from officers, while drawing a weapon and firing at them,” Gen. Weirich said in a letter to Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr. “A jury presented with this scenario would be hard pressed to find officers guilty of a crime.”
The redacted TBI report on the incident, including video, photos, witness statements, records and more can be viewed online.
