Tennessee National Guard members assigned to a federal anti-crime task force in Memphis fatally shot an armed 20-year-old man in the back in July, an autopsy report obtained by The Associated Press shows, contradicting police accounts that the man was facing the troops when they fired.
Authorities have said Tyrin Johnson turned toward guard members with a gun while running from them in the early morning hours after the Fourth of July holiday when he was fatally shot in the chest.
But according to an autopsy report shared Thursday by Johnson’s family, a single bullet went in the right side of his back and exited through his upper right chest. The autopsy findings, reported earlier by The Commercial Appeal newspaper, were prepared by the West Tennessee Regional Forensic Center Office of the Medical Examiner, which did not respond to a request for comment.
The guard members were assigned to the Memphis Safe Task Force, created by President Donald Trump, who last year sent troops and federal agents to Democratic-run cities that he described as overrun with crime. The task force was involved in four fatal shootings between May and July.
Johnson’s grandfather, Evaniel Johnson, said guard members had no justification to shoot his grandson in the back.
“If he ain’t caused you no threat, you know what I’m saying, you have no reason to be killing,” said the former correctional officer with the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office in Nashville.
Officers responded to a call of shots fired a few blocks from Beale Street and saw a person armed with a gun leaving, said Memphis police. 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,” according to a Tennessee National Guard report obtained by the Associated Press. Both troops fired their service weapons, M17 handguns, and Memphis police arrived shortly after, the guard report said.
The bullet had a slightly upward trajectory through Tyrin Johnson’s body, the autopsy report said. That would be consistent with him running away from the shooter, said Dr. Steven White, a certified forensic pathologist who did not do Johnson’s autopsy but reviewed the report for the AP.
The report said there was no soot, gunpowder stippling or muzzle imprint around the wound, which White said indicated Johnson was likely shot from more than 3 feet away.
“Be transparent – you shot him in the back,” Evaniel Johnson added. “I just want to make sure somebody be responsible for what happened. Some accountability. They ain’t never going to bring my grandson back.”
In the autopsy report, an “investigative narrative” based on an account from an agent with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation also stated Tyrin Johnson was turning toward law enforcement with a gun.
“The unknown male grabbed at his waistband,” the report stated. “Law enforcement officers saw the unknown male draw a firearm. Law enforcement officers then shot at the unknown male, striking him once in the chest.”
Andre Wharton, an attorney representing Johnson’s family, told the AP that the narrative presented by law enforcement does not match the autopsy findings of a single bullet wound in the back.
“I just see some kind of blatant inconsistency there, in terms of what law enforcement reports,” Wharton said. “The versions don’t seem to match.”
The manner of death is listed as “homicide,” which typically is used when a death is caused by the actions of another person but often doesn’t factor in intent or carry any legal weight. To date, no criminal charges have been filed.
TBI said the investigation is “open and ongoing” and directed AP to the medical examiner’s office when asked to confirm the autopsy findings. The AP has a pending request for a copy for Johnson’s autopsy from the Shelby County Medical Examiner’s office.
Johnson was carrying a “handgun magazine with rounds,” according to the autopsy report. Wharton said it was not illegal for Johnson to be carrying the ammunition in Tennessee.
Johnson’s family has asked authorities to show them surveillance video or other evidence he was pointing a weapon at guard members. The family has still not been shown any video of the moments leading up to the shooting, Evaniel Johnson said.
Trump’s decision to send Tennessee National Guard troops to Memphis to combat crime was met with a mixed response from residents and was the subject of a lawsuit, though it did not result in widespread protests.