“The Scorpion unit was involved,” Shelby County, Tennessee, District Attorney Steve Mulroy said Thursday at a news conference where he announced murder charges against five officers.
Davis has called “heinous, reckless and inhumane,” has increased scrutiny of the city’s reliance on specialized units to suppress violent crime.
This week, Davis announced a review of all of the police department’s specialized units, including Scorpion, in response to Nichols’ death.
Memphis’ Scorpion unit was created in October 2021 under the police department’s Organized Crime Unit.
Mayor Jim Strickland promoted the new Scorpion unit as part of the solution in his January 2022 State of the City speech.