Thursday, August 11, 2016

TBI Agent, a Former Millington Police Officer, Killed in Jackson, Tenn.
Aug. 09, 2016
By Clay Bailey of The Commercial Appeal

A former Millington police officer who left the department earlier this year to join the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation was shot to death Tuesday afternoon during an undercover drug operation in Jackson, Tennessee.

Authorities identified the agent as De'Greaun Frazier, who becomes the first TBI officer killed in the line of duty in that agency's history. Frazier, who lived in the Cordova area, was a police officer with the University of Memphis from 2006-2010. He then joined the Millington Police Department in 2010 and remained there until his February resignation. Frazier was also a reserve officer with the Shelby County Sheriff's Office.

According to TBI Director Mark Gwyn, Frazier was in the car with an informant and another man conducting an undercover drug purchase. The other man, sitting in the back seat, pulled a gun in a robbery attempt and shot once, striking Frazier, Gwyn said. Frazier, 35, was pronounced dead at Jackson-Madison County Hospital. The suspect was captured nearby.

"Agent Frazier was exactly what we look for in a TBI agent: hardworking, enthusiastic and dedicated to making Tennessee a better place to live," Gwyn said. "We are deeply saddened by his death and will work aggressively to investigate this case to the fullest."

Millington Public Safety Director Gary Graves said Tuesday that Frazier had been assigned to several divisions, including investigations and the canine unit. He also served with the local Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force.

"This is very, very rough," Graves said. "With all of the police shootings that have gone on, it affects the officers. But this one was close to home."

Millington Police Insp. Rita Stanback got to know Frazier during his six years with the department, she said Tuesday, adding that Frazier had long wanted to work for the TBI.

"We'd talk about the job that he did. He loved doing police work. He always wanted to climb the ladder. TBI was one of the jobs that he talked about doing. He would take any kind of training that he could get that would help move forward. He wanted to work for TBI, to be a TBI agent," she said. "Even though he's gone, he wasn't forgotten. He's still a part of our family here."

Millington Insp. Reggie Fields said Frazier leaves behind a wife and two young children.

"He was at my office about two weeks ago, and he was showing us new photos of the latest child in his family. That child was less than a year old," Fields said. "Dee Frazier was the best of the best."

State Sen. Mark Norris, R-Collierville, said he was briefed on the incident before the TBI press conference.

"We mourn this terrible loss," Norris said in a statement. "West Tennessee has lost one of her own. Agent Frazier gave his life in the line of duty doing what our crime fighters do every day — risking their lives to keep us safe. He has not died in vain. The war on drugs continues, and we will redouble our efforts to win."

Around 2 p.m. Tuesday, Jackson resident Candice Washington, 34, said she heard about four shots from Brianfield Cove and fell to her kitchen floor. When she got up, she looked out and saw a black Navigator stopped in front of her residence.

Washington said she got close to the car and saw the agent appeared to be shot in the side of the head near his ear. She said the man standing outside the car told her to back up, saying he was an agent. Both men were in plain clothes, she said.

"I saw a black male inside of the Navigator," Washington said. "He looked like he had been shot. His eyes were rolled back and his head was limp."

Gwyn said the operation was no different from ones the TBI conducts daily.

"I have agents all across this state every day doing what Agent Frazier was doing," the TBI director said. "All you can do is pray they go home safely. Today, that prayer wasn't answered, unfortunately."

Reporters Maranda Faris and Tyler Whetstone of the USA TODAY NETWORK — Tennessee and staff reporter Jody Callahan contributed to this story.

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