Weeks ago a Memphis officer was killed likely by friendly fire. But how common is that?

In late April, three Memphis Police Department officers engaged in a shootout with two suspects that left one officer dead. Memphis police officer Joesph McKinney was killed, along with one of the suspects, while two other officers were injured. The second suspect was also critically injured.

Days after the shootout, the Shelby County District Attorney's office said that evidence indicated that McKinney was killed by friendly fire.

National data shows friendly fire deaths in law enforcement are uncommon. Friendly fire deaths are accounted for as "accidental deaths" by the FBI. The FBI Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted Data Collection places friendly-fire deaths in the "accidental deaths" category.

According to a statement from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program, the data does not have a designated category of "friendly fire" deaths "as an incident circumstance for accidental deaths."

"These accidental deaths are further characterized as firearm-related incidents, but not all firearm-related incidents are the result of friendly fire," the FBI said in a statement.

According to data published by the agency, the leading cause of accidental deaths for law enforcement officers from Jan. 1 to April 30 this year was motor vehicle accidents.

The Southern region, which includes Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Mississippi, West Virginia and Virginia, had the most law enforcement deaths so far in 2024 with 9 felonious deaths and 13 accidental.

What is friendly fire?

The Shelby County District Attorney's Office has not yet released the body-worn camera or dash camera footage from the incident where McKinney was killed. Memphis Police Department has also not yet provided clarifying details on what exactly led to McKinney's death.

Friendly fire is a term most commonly used in the military, but has been known to happen with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. Oxford defines it as, "weapon fire coming from one's own side, especially fire that causes accidental injury or death to one's own forces."

Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said he would not be charging any officers involved in the death of fellow officer McKinney. The office previously said they would not be charging the 17-year-old with murder charges, but later said they would be adding second-degree murder and reckless homicide charges in connection to McKinney's death.

Friendly fire deaths are not limited to the situation that ended McKinney's life, these incidents also include those inadvertently or mistakenly shot during training, those mistaken for a suspect by a fellow officer and accidental malfunction of a firearm. It also includes situations where officers are mistaken by a civilian as someone dangerous and killed by the civilian.

According to a report from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, only one officer died in 2023 from a friendly fire incident. Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations unit Special Agent Patrick Charles Bauer was shot and killed during a training exercise in August.

The officer who shot and killed Bauer was charged criminally on one count of involuntary manslaughter of an Officer of the United States in March.

'Everywhere from lack of communication to negligence'

Troy Anderson, executive director of officer safety and wellness for the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, has spent the majority of his career in law enforcement, spending 26 years with the Connecticut State Police as well as other local agencies.

Anderson said when it comes to friendly fire incidents, there is no one commonality among all of the cases.

"I look at...those situations...they're always different. There may be definite fibers in there that are similar, but they're always different. So to say that you can prepare for every eventuality? I don't know that that's possible," Anderson said. "But you need to train... I think back to my academy training, and I don't really recall us having blue-on-blue type training in the academy."

MPD denied a Freedom of Information Act request filed by The Commercial Appeal related to MPD's policies regarding friendly fire incidents or training officers received related to preventing friendly fire incidents.

Data from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program shows that from 2013 to 2022, 490 law enforcement officers were killed in the line of duty as a result of accidental incidents.

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In that period, 20 officers were accidentally killed involving a firearm. The data published by the FBI does not show how many officers were killed in friendly fire incidents.

In a report published in 2017 titled "Making It Safer: A Study of Law Enforcement Fatalities Between 2010-2016," the officers memorial fund reported that since 2014, there have been at least two officers shot and killed each year in friendly fire incidents.

Some incidents, like Bauer's death, happen inside training rooms. Other deaths occur because of accidental discharges. Anderson said that while he was an internal affairs investigator within a police department, there was a situation where an undercover officer placed a loaded patrol weapon in their waistband and the weapon discharged, injuring the officer.

"I think it can go from everywhere from lack of communication to negligence. I mean...how do you explain the officer whose firearm goes off in the training classroom at the firearms range? I mean, that's pretty negligent right there," Anderson said.

Upping training, visibility for officers

Anderson said that even though the numbers reported by his organization are low, even one is too many. There is a need, according to Anderson, for departments to elevate their training in relation to friendly fire incidents but also to evaluate what practices can be put in place to make situations safer for officers.

The Connecticut State Police issued all officers bright-colored jackets because of the "fear or the concern" of friendly fire, Anderson said.

"So everybody has the same-colored jacket, with the same color printing on the outside and the printing is all over it," Anderson said. "I'm going to tell you it looks it's very gaudy. It says across the back, 'Connecticut State Police,' on both arms are oversized, bright yellow patches."

Anderson said other departments around the country have followed suit, issuing armbands for off-duty officers and on-duty officers to wear when responding to incidents. These small changes, Anderson said, could save the lives of fellow officers.

Other recommendations Anderson gave to reduce friendly fire incidents were being overly communicative and coordinating more with responding officers. But, Anderson again emphasized the importance of training for officers.

"There's always is always a part, when you go back, and you analyze those reports where you start to see where something maybe could have been done differently...sometimes it goes all the way back to training," Anderson said.

Lucas Finton contributed to this report.

Brooke Muckerman covers Shelby County Government for The Commerical Appeal. She can be reached at [email protected] and followed on X, formerly known as Twitter @BrookeMuckerman.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: A Memphis police officer was killed by friendly fire. How common is it?