MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Memphis police officer killed in an early Friday morning crash involving another driver who’d been shot was a Chicago native who’d been on the job just a few months.
Demetrice Johnson, 34, a March 2024 graduate of the Memphis Police Department Training Academy, leaves behind a wife and young son, the Memphis Police Association said.
“He was an exceptional kid, very well-behaved, very well respected. I never had a problem with my child. Growing up, he was never a problem,” Johnson’s mother, Cassandra Johnson, told WGN’s Nexstar sister station WREG. “He knows police officers in Chicago, they are not taking it too well either. This is a heavy hit for all of us.”
Johnson’s squad car was struck shortly after 3 a.m. ET by a gray Nissan whose driver had been shot during a disagreement with another person a mile away, police said. The crash left three people, including another officer, critically injured. Johnson and the Nissan’s driver died soon after arriving at Memphis’ Regional One Hospital.
A close friend of Johnson’s remembered him as a “loving guy” with a “beautiful soul” who always wanted to help others.
“I was really proud of him that he was able to live out his dream for the little time that he did,” Lamont Darty said. “When he had a chance to, he always talked about being a police officer.”
Johnson’s mother recalled his good manners and said she feared for his safety.
“He studied law. That’s what he wanted. I asked him not to because I didn’t want him to be a police officer because that’s something I feel the most and the very thing I feared the most is what took him out of here … blood, law enforcement is what he loved. He wanted to be an officer so he fulfilled his dream,” she said.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol launched an investigation into the collision. Memphis police said they’re working to unravel the circumstances related to the shooting.