Brianfield Cove residents fear for safety after TBI agent killed

JACKSON, Tenn. — Those who live near Brianfield Cove in norht Jackson walked out of their apartments to a sea of police cars, Tuesday. But to learn it was a TBI agent who was murdered just steps from their front doors, has them now questioning their own safety.

“(A) block away.. way too close to home,” neighbor Matt Blythe said.

As the father of a 6-month-old, Matt Blythe said the large police presence outside his apartment Tuesday was eye-opening. Learning that TBI agent De’Greaun Frazier was murdered just steps away from his front door has left him unsettled.

“I just had a lot going on,” Blythe said. “Like, ‘are we safe now?, what just happened over here, what did I miss?”

“This just happened yesterday and I think a lot of people are really still feeling the shock and will be for some time,” TBI Public Information Officer Susan Niland said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, too.”

Since living in the area, Blythe said he has heard gun shots and has even witnessed a sting by SWAT officers, but with Tuesday’s shooting, he sadi he fears for the safety of his family.

“I don’t know if I want to raise my daughter in a neighborhood where there’s a possibility of an undercover sting operation happening,” Blythe said. “No offense to the cops or anyone involved, but if they’re picking this area for an undercover sting operation, how safe is that neighborhood?” 

Blythe saids he no longer feels safe raising a family in the area.

“There was already plans for us moving, they probably just got ramped up a bit,” Blythe said.

Blythe said the violence he has watched across the country, seemingly now at his front door, has made an impact on him.

“Nothing like this should ever happen around, like people should not be getting shot, no matter who it is,” Blythe said. “People getting killed in the line of duty, people getting killed by cops, people just getting killed, period. It just needs to stop.”

According to Blythe, the neighborhood was much quieter, Wednesday because kids who usually play outside were nowhere to be found. He believes it was because of Tuesday’s shooting.