On July 21, 2026, Police Radio Telecommunicator Khari Tukufu with the Memphis Police Department Emergency Communications Bureau received a call reporting an active shooter and bomb threat situation inside St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The caller falsely claimed to be hiding inside a restroom, actively firing shots and equipped with homemade explosive devices. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is one of the most recognizable institutions in the city of Memphis — a world-renowned pediatric research hospital whose patients include some of the most vulnerable children in the country. A credible active shooter and bomb threat at that location demands an immediate, coordinated, and precise response. Tukufu managed this incident from start to resolution with the composure, precision and professionalism that an event of this magnitude demanded.
The call required simultaneous management of multiple priorities: dispatching units to the scene, providing continuous updates to responding personnel as information developed, coordinating with the Memphis Safe Taskforce Joint Operations Center and supporting the execution of a systematic search of the entire hospital complex and all relevant buildings. At every moment, the accuracy and clarity of communications from the telecommunicator determined how effectively officers could move, where they searched and how safely the scene could be resolved.
Tukufu dispatched units to St. Jude immediately, providing clear and timely location information. As updates came in from responding officers, he relayed them continuously — keeping all units informed and the situational picture current throughout a rapidly evolving scene. He coordinated directly with the Memphis Safe Taskforce Joint Operations Center (JOC) to ensure that the systematic search of the hospital and surrounding buildings was executed in a structured, coordinated manner rather than in fragmented, uncoordinated efforts that could compromise officer safety or miss critical locations.
Throughout the incident, Tukufu demonstrated the multitasking capability and situational awareness that a complex, multi-unit, multi-building operation requires. He balanced radio traffic across responding personnel, maintained updated call remarks, and ensured that command staff had the information they needed to make real-time decisions about resource deployment and search priorities. His actions kept the operation organized when disorganization could have been dangerous — and he did it with the professionalism that the moment and the institution at the center of it required.
The incident was resolved without harm. Following resolution, North Main Station Precinct Major Gary called the communications bureau directly to personally commend Tukufu for his assistance. A precinct Major taking time after a resolved incident to call the ECB and name a specific telecommunicator by their contribution is not a routine occurrence. It is a deliberate act of recognition from command-level leadership who witnessed what that telecommunicator’s professionalism made possible.
Police Radio Telecommunicator Khari Tukufu has served the Memphis Police Department Emergency Communications Bureau since December 7, 2020. In nearly five years, he has built a record of consistent, quality performance — recognized as Dispatcher of the Month in March 2023 and maintaining satisfactory or outstanding QA ratings consistently throughout 2026. Year-to-date, he has personally handled 1,375 emergency 9-1-1 calls and 711 ten-digit non-emergency calls – part of a bureau that has received 396,903 9-1-1 calls and 221,294 non-emergency calls this year alone. The professionalism he demonstrated on July 21st is not an exception to how he works. It is a confirmation of the standard he holds himself to every shift.
