NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee National Guard troops in Memphis last summer trained their handguns on 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 the footage from an officer's body camera calling for an ambulance and then asking the troops, “Hey, you guys got a medical kit or anything?”
The Shelby County District Attorney’s
Office released the videos, which also include footage from stationary cameras and a cellphone from a bystander, as the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation continues its investigation into the July 5 shooting of Tyrin Johnson.
Johnson, 20, who had been 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 said he was facing the guard members with a gun when they fired at him.
The footage did not show Johnson's initial encounter with the guard members or them firing at him.
The guard members were part of a federal task force created by President Donald Trump, who last year sent troops and federal agents to Democrat-run cities that he described 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.
District Attorney Steve Mulroy said he has not yet decided whether to 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, an attorney for the two guard members, said they have no comment at this time.
Authorities said the troops were responding with local police to reports of gunshots around 4 a.m. when they began pursuing an armed man fleeing on foot.
Footage from stationary street cameras shows a person in dark clothing firing shots through an empty parking lot at three people walking on a sidewalk. Two Memphis police officers hear gunshots nearby and start walking and then running in that direction, a body camera worn by one of the officers shows. The officers say on their radio that they are pursuing a man who is running and armed with a gun.
The video, which is blurry from the officer’s movement, captures yelling and the sound of a single gunshot, followed by several additional gunshot noises.
A Tennessee National Guard report obtained by The Associated Press via a public records request said two guard members responded to the Memphis police radio call, left their vehicle and approached the suspect, who “rounded on them and pointed a tan handgun at them.” Both guard members fired their service weapons — M17 handguns — and Memphis police arrived shortly after, the report stated.
Police body camera footage shows guard members at the scene shouting “Hands!” and “Turn over!” as they point their handguns at a man lying on his back on the sidewalk.
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.
Johnson was the father of a young child and was preparing to help lead the family construction business, his grandfather, Evaniel Johnson, said.
At least six guard members were on the scene immediately after the shooting, the body camera video shows. One can be seen moving a handgun that is on the ground until a police officer tells him to leave it alone. An officer calls for an ambulance over the radio, and a guard member begins to cut off the man's shirt just before the video ends.
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Schoenbaum reported from Salt Lake City.
