Newly released video shows Tennessee National Guard members pointing handguns at 20-year-old Tyrin Johnson as he lay dying on a Memphis sidewalk after one of them shot him in the back. The incident, which occurred last summer, is under investigation, with an autopsy report contradicting initial police and guard accounts of the shooting.
Video footage released by Shelby County prosecutors shows Tennessee National Guard members training their handguns on 20-year-old Tyrin Johnson as he lay dying on a Memphis sidewalk last summer, moments after a guard member shot him in the back. The footage, sourced from an officer's body camera, stationary cameras, and a bystander's cellphone, captures the aftermath of the July 5 shooting. An officer is heard calling for an ambulance and asking about medical kits while troops point their weapons at Johnson. Johnson died at the scene from a single gunshot wound. An autopsy report obtained by his family indicates he was shot in the back, directly contradicting initial accounts from police and the National Guard which claimed he was facing them with a gun when he was shot. The released videos do not depict the initial encounter or the moment Johnson was shot. The guard members were part of a federal task force initiated by then-President Donald Trump and deployed by Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, aimed at addressing crime in cities. District Attorney Steve Mulroy has not yet decided whether to file charges. A Tennessee National Guard report, obtained via public records, stated that two guard members responded to a radio call, approached Johnson, who 'rounded on them and pointed a tan handgun,' leading both to fire their service weapons. Johnson's family attorney emphasized the need to focus the investigation on the reasonableness of the fatal shot. Johnson was a father and was involved in his family's construction business. The body camera footage also shows at least six guard members on scene, with one seen moving a handgun on the ground before being told by an officer to leave it.
