Crimeupdated 41m ago3 min read
MapShelby County DA Releases Videos Of National Guard Shooting Tyrin Johnson In Downtown Memphis
“The footage also doesn't show Johnson's initial encounter with the guard members.”
“What the videos show”
Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL · Cropped for layout
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DA releases videos showing aftermath of Tyrin Johnson's fatal National Guard shooting in downtown Memphis. Autopsy found Johnson was shot in the back, contradicting initial account.
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Videos Released After July 5
The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office released four videos tied to the July 5 shooting death of 20-year-old Tyrin Johnson in downtown Memphis, where National Guard members shot him and where he died at the scene from a single gunshot wound.
A Memphis police officer can be heard in the body-camera footage calling for an ambulance and asking the troops, “Hey, you guys got a medical kit or anything?” as Johnson lay dying on a sidewalk.
The videos show Johnson firing gunshots in the air near AutoZone Park around 4 a.m. before he ran, and the recordings capture officers and National Guard members heading down Ida B. Wells toward Union.
The footage then includes gunfire heard less than 90 seconds later on the body camera, with an MPD officer shouting “Hey, leave that gun alone!” as a Guard member reaches for a gun on the ground.
The Shelby County Medical Examiner ruled Johnson’s death a homicide, and the autopsy report shared by Johnson’s family found he was shot in the back, contradicting accounts that he was facing the Guard with a gun when they fired.
Competing Accounts, Key Gaps
André C. Wharton, an attorney for Johnson’s family, argued the released recordings leave a decisive question unanswered, saying, “What is absent is that he was running away, and that is critical to this investigation.”
Wharton also emphasized that the videos do not capture the moments immediately before the shooting, warning that “This investigation must stay focused on the moment the guardsman fired the fatal shot and whether that action was reasonable.”
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation continues its inquiry, and District Attorney Steve Mulroy said he has not yet decided whether to file charges in connection with Johnson’s death.
Mulroy explained the release timing by saying, “I made a commitment to release videos when doing so would not interfere with an investigation,” and he added that releasing the video “will not compromise the work the TBI has done so far.”
The Tennessee National Guard report obtained by the Associated Press says two guardsmen approached a suspect who “rounded on them and pointed a tan handgun at them,” while Johnson’s family autopsy findings said the fatal bullet entered his back.
Task Force, Training, and Next Steps
Former Shelby County Sheriff’s Office Captain Bennie Cobb said Memphis Police Department officers and Shelby County Sheriff’s Office deputies are taught not to shoot suspects in the back, telling Action News 5, “I do not believe that National Guard or military people have the understanding and background and training experience that’s needed to be patrolling urban streets.”
“I do not believe that National Guard or military people have the understanding and background and training experience that’s needed to be patrolling urban streets.”
Cobb pointed to Tennessee v. Garner, a 1985 landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision, and he said recruits are taught that deadly force can only be used if officers are in immediate threat of death or serious injury.
The videos show at least six National Guard members on the scene immediately after the shooting, with one Guard member moving a handgun on the ground until an officer told him to leave it alone.
The National Guard members were part of a federal task force created by President Donald Trump, and Tennessee’s Republican Gov. Bill Lee deployed the Guard to support the effort, with the task force involved in four fatal shootings between May and July.
The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office said the release does not legally determine or infer anything about charges, and the investigation remains under the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation as the case waits for a charging decision from Steve Mulroy.