2 Memphis Fire Dept. Employees 'Relieved of Duty' After Tyre Nichols Waited 22 Minutes for Ambulance

Tyre Nichols.Photo: Adrian Sainz/AP/Shutterstock

Two Memphis Fire Department (MFD) personnel have been temporarily “relieved of duty” in connection to the death ofTyre Nichols, the department announced earlier this week.

After footage of the traffic stop that ultimatelyclaimed the 29-year-old Black man’s lifeshowed that Nichols waited 22 minutes for an ambulance, MFD spokesperson Qwanesha Ward said the two employees under investigation were “involved in the initial patient care,” according to NBC News.

Ward did not provide further details at the time, and she did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

Nicholswas subjected to approximately 50 minutes of beatingbefore police could be seen dragging and propping him up against a police cruiser at 8:38 before Nichols slumped over on his side.

Two medics were shown arriving at the scene with equipment at 8:41 p.m. It’s unclear if those are the two employees under investigation.

“It’s going to be a while for an ambulance,” one person can be heard saying. Nobody renders aid until an ambulance arrives at 9:02 p.m. to transport Nichols to a hospital in critical condition, where he died from his injuries three days later.

RELATED VIDEO: Five Former Memphis Police Officers Charged with Murder in the Death of Tyre Nichols

Five MPD officers involved in the attack — Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith — have since beenfired and are facing multiple charges.

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Nichols' stepfather Rodney Wells has since expressed the family’s desire to see justice served on every level. “I feel thateveryone there should be charged,” he told ABC News on Friday.

“Everyone — that’s the paramedics, that’s the fire department, the paramedics that came out that stood around, didn’t do anything. They’re just as guilty,” Wells added. “Everyone that was active in the whole scene, the whole video, should be charged.”

source: people.com