Tennessee National Guard Involved in Fatal Shooting During Pursuit

Two Tennessee National Guard members, part of a crime-fighting patrol in Memphis, fatally shot a man on Sunday. Authorities reported that the man, during a downtown pursuit, turned towards the soldiers with a gun.

The guardsmen are part of a federal task force in Memphis. This task force was created by President Donald Trump to address crime in cities he described as overwhelmed by violence. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee deployed the Guard to aid this initiative.

The Memphis police department stated that the soldiers responded alongside local police to gunfire reports at around 4 a.m. They initiated a chase on foot when an armed man attempted to flee. The guardsmen opened fire when the man, identified as 20-year-old Tyrin Johnson, turned towards them with his weapon.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) is currently examining the shooting circumstances. According to the TBI, no law enforcement officers were injured in the incident. Johnson was pronounced dead at the scene after attempts by two National Guard medical specialists to provide first aid, according to Guard spokesperson Lt. Col Darrin Haas.

Tyrin Johnson’s older cousin, Terracle Nelson, said that family members were informed he was shot twice in the chest. No further information on the number of shots was immediately available, and the TBI declined to comment on Nelson’s statements.

Johnson’s grandfather, Evaniel Johnson, expressed grief and called for a review of the investigation findings and any shooting footage before making judgments. He shared that his grandson, a Tennessee State University attendee and father to a young child, was involved in the family construction business and had a passion for music.

Mayor Paul Young referred to the incident as sad and stated he would await the TBI investigation results before making further comments, according to spokesperson Penelope Huston. As of Sunday, no federal or state court cases involving Johnson were found, although local records reflected some minor traffic violations.

Federal troops have been patrolling Memphis since October despite Mayor Young’s opposition. The troops are part of the Memphis Safe Task Force, initiated by Trump and involving federal and local agencies. More than 10,000 arrests have been made by the task force, per the U.S. Marshals Service as of June.

Data from the TBI shows four officer-involved shootings linked to the task force. Two of these shootings occurred in May but did not involve National Guard personnel firing weapons. Details about any agency involvement in an October shooting remain unspecified by the TBI.

The TBI and National Guard did not respond to inquiries about whether Sunday’s incident was the first time Guard members discharged their weapons since their deployment to Memphis. The city, with a population exceeding 600,000, has long dealt with high violent crime rates, including assaults, carjackings, and homicides.

Both Democratic and Republican leaders have reported a decrease in certain crime categories last year, aligning with national trends. This decline occurred before the deployment of federal troops. In April, the Tennessee Court of Appeals concluded that state and local Democratic officials did not have the standing to prevent the federal troops’ deployment in Memphis.