NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Video released Monday by county prosecutors shows Tennessee National Guard troops in Memphis pointing their handguns at a man as he lay dying on a sidewalk last summer, after a guard member shot him in the back.
In footage from a Memphis police officer’s body camera, an officer is heard requesting an ambulance before asking the troops, “Hey, you guys got a medical kit or anything?”
The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office released the videos as the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation continues examining the July 5 shooting of Tyrin Johnson. The recordings include footage from stationary cameras, a police body camera and a bystander’s cellphone.
Investigators said Johnson, 20, was armed and died at the scene from a single gunshot wound. An autopsy report provided by Johnson’s family determined that he had been shot in the back, conflicting with accounts from police and the National Guard that he was facing the guard members with a gun when they opened fire.
The released footage does not show Johnson’s initial encounter with the guard members or the moment they fired at him.
The guard members were assigned to a federal task force created by President Donald Trump, who last year sent troops and federal agents to Democrat-run cities he characterized as overwhelmed by crime. Tennessee’s Republican Gov. Bill Lee deployed the Guard to assist the effort. The task force was involved in four fatal shootings between May and July.
District Attorney Steve Mulroy said he has not decided whether charges will be filed in Johnson’s death.
A Tennessee National Guard spokesperson did not immediately respond to phone and email requests for comment. Ed Yarbrough, an attorney representing the two guard members, said they had no comment at this time.
Authorities said the troops were assisting local police in responding to reports of gunfire at about 4 a.m. when they began pursuing an armed man who was fleeing on foot.
Stationary street-camera footage shows a person wearing dark clothing firing through an empty parking lot at three people walking along a sidewalk. Body-camera video shows two Memphis police officers hearing the gunshots, then walking and running toward the sound. Over the radio, the officers report that they are pursuing a man who is running and carrying a gun.
The officer’s movement makes the video blurry, but it captures shouting and the sound of one gunshot, followed by several more gunshot noises.
A Tennessee National Guard report obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request said two guard members responded to the Memphis police radio call. They left their vehicle and approached the suspect, who “rounded on them and pointed a tan handgun at them.” Both fired their service weapons, M17 handguns, and Memphis police arrived shortly afterward, according to the report.
Police body-camera footage shows guard members pointing their handguns at a man lying on his back on the sidewalk while shouting, “Hands!” and “Turn over!”
André C. Wharton, an attorney for Johnson’s family, said the videos do not show what happened immediately before the shooting or the shooting itself.
“This investigation must stay focused on the moment the guardsman fired the fatal shot and whether that action was reasonable,” Wharton said.
Johnson was the father of a young child and was preparing to help lead his family’s construction business, his grandfather, Evaniel Johnson, said.
Body-camera video shows at least six guard members at the scene immediately after the shooting. One appears to move a handgun lying on the ground until a police officer tells him to leave it alone. An officer requests an ambulance over the radio, and a guard member begins cutting away Johnson’s shirt shortly before the video ends.
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Schoenbaum reported from Salt Lake City.
