Tennessee National Guard troops in Memphis last summer pointed their handguns at a man as he lay dying on a sidewalk after a guard member shot him in the back, video released Monday by county prosecutors shows.
A Memphis police officer can be heard in body camera footage of an officer calling for an ambulance, then asking troops, “Hey, do you have a med kit or anything?”
The Shelby County Prosecutor’s Office released the videos, which also include footage from still cameras and a bystander’s cell phone, as the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation continues its investigation into the shooting of Tyrin Johnson on July 5.
Johnson, 20, who was armed, died at the scene from a single gunshot wound, according to investigators. An autopsy report shared by Johnson’s family found that he was shot in the back, contradicting police and National Guard accounts that he was facing guard members with a gun when they shot him.
Andre C. Wharton, an attorney for Johnson’s family, noted that the videos do not show the moments leading up to the shooting, nor the shooting itself. The footage also does not show Johnson’s first encounter with members of the guard.
“This investigation must remain focused on when the guard fired the fatal shot and whether that action was reasonable,” Wharton said in a statement reported by CBS affiliate WREG.
Wharton said a “crucial question” for investigators to answer “is what happened in the immediate moments before Tyrin was shot in the back.”
“The videos released today underscore why our Constitution protects all people from unreasonable searches and seizures. Whether the force was unreasonable must be decided by a careful and impartial investigation of the facts, and this case is no exception,” Wharton said. “The footage released today unfortunately does not capture the full sequence of events, including the active threats Tyrin allegedly faced before being shot and killed by the task force.”
The lawyer also asked for the public’s patience as he and his team “work tirelessly to obtain all objective and critical evidence.”
The guard members were part of a federal task force created by President Trump, who last year sent troops and federal agents into Democratic-run cities that he described as overrun with crime. Tennessee’s Republican governor, Bill Lee, had deployed the Guard to support the effort. The task force was involved in four fatal shootings between May and July.
AP Photo/George Walker IV, file 
District Attorney Steve Mulroy said he has not yet decided whether or not he will file charges in connection with the death.
A spokesperson for the Tennessee National Guard did not immediately respond to email and phone messages seeking comment. Ed Yarbrough, the attorney for the two guards, said they had no comment at this time.
Authorities said troops were responding with local police to reports of gunfire around 4 a.m. when they began pursuing an armed man fleeing on foot.
Footage from stationary street cameras shows a person dressed in dark clothing firing shots across an empty parking lot at three people walking on a sidewalk. Two Memphis police officers hear gunshots nearby and begin walking then running in that direction, a body camera worn by one of the officers shows. The police say on the radio that they are chasing a running man armed with a gun.
The video, which is blurry due to the officer’s movements, shows screams and the sound of a single gunshot, followed by several additional gunshot sounds.
A Tennessee National Guard report obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request says two Guard members responded to the radio call from Memphis police, left their vehicle and approached the suspect, who “turned toward them and pointed a handgun at them.” Both guard members fired their service weapons — M17 handguns — and Memphis police arrived shortly after, according to the report.
Police body camera footage shows members of the guard at the scene shouting “Hands!” » and “Turn around!” as they point their handguns at a man lying on his back on the sidewalk.
Johnson was the father of a young child and was preparing to help run the family construction business, said his grandfather, Evaniel Johnson.
At least six guards were on the scene immediately after the shooting, body camera video shows. A man can be seen moving a handgun that was on the ground until a police officer tells him to leave it alone. An officer radios for an ambulance and a guard begins cutting the man’s shirt just before the video ends.
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