Autopsy shared by Johnson’s family says he was shot in the back
The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office released videos Monday showing Tennessee National Guard troops pointing handguns at Tyrin Johnson as he lay dying on a sidewalk in Memphis after a guard member shot him in the back. The July 5 recordings do not show the initial encounter with the guards or the shooting itself.
The released material includes footage from stationary street cameras, a Memphis police officer’s body camera and a bystander’s cellphone. The District Attorney’s Office made the videos public Monday as the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation continued its investigation into the July 5 shooting.
Authorities said troops were responding with local police to reports of gunshots around 4 a.m. when they began pursuing an armed man fleeing on foot. Stationary street cameras show a person in dark clothing firing shots through an empty parking lot at three people walking on a sidewalk.
Two Memphis police officers heard gunshots nearby and began walking and then running in that direction. Their radio traffic said they were pursuing a man who was running and armed with a gun.
One officer’s body camera, blurry because the officer was moving, captured yelling and the sound of a single gunshot followed by several additional gunshot noises. The recording does not show the initial encounter or the moment when the fatal shot was fired.
A Tennessee National Guard report obtained by The Associated Press through a public-records request said two guard members responded to a Memphis police radio call, left their vehicle and approached the suspect. The report said the man “rounded on them and pointed a tan handgun at them.” Both guard members fired their M17 service handguns, and Memphis police arrived shortly after, according to the report.
Investigators said Johnson was armed and died at the scene from a single gunshot wound. An autopsy report shared by his family found that he was shot in the back, contradicting police and National Guard accounts that he was facing the guard members with a gun when they fired.
Body-camera video shows guard members at the scene shouting “Hands!” and “Turn over!” as they pointed handguns at Johnson, who was lying on his back on the sidewalk. A Memphis police officer called for an ambulance over the radio and asked the troops, “Hey, you guys got a medical kit or anything?”
At least six guard members were on the scene immediately after the shooting, according to the body-camera video. One guard member moved a handgun lying on the ground until a police officer told him to leave it alone. As the officer called for an ambulance, a guard member began cutting off Johnson’s shirt just before the video ended.
André C. Wharton, an attorney for Johnson’s family, noted that the videos do not show the moments 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.
District Attorney Steve Mulroy said he has not decided whether to file charges. A spokesperson for the Tennessee National Guard did not immediately respond to email and phone messages seeking comment. Ed Yarbrough, an attorney for the two guard members, said they have no comment at this time.
The guard members were part of a federal task force created by President Donald Trump, who last year sent troops and federal agents to cities led by Democratic officials. Trump described those cities as “overrun with crime.” Tennessee’s Republican Gov. Bill Lee had deployed the Guard to support the effort. The task force was involved in four fatal shootings between May and July.
Tyrin Johnson was the father of a young child and was preparing to help lead his family’s construction business, his grandfather Evaniel Johnson said.