Two Tennessee National Guard members assigned to a crime-fighting patrol in Memphis fatally shot a man Sunday who turned toward the soldiers with a gun during a downtown pursuit, authorities said.
The Guard members are part of a federal task force in Memphis 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 Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, had deployed the Guard to support the effort.
Authorities said the soldiers in Memphis were responding with local police to reports of gunshots around 4 a.m. when they began pursuing an armed man fleeing on foot. The guardsmen opened fire after the man turned toward them with his weapon, according to the city’s police department.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation identified the man as Tyrin Johnson, 20, and said it is investigating the circumstances of the shooting. No law enforcement officers were injured, the agency added.
Johnson died at the scene after two National Guard medical specialists attempted first aid, Guard spokesperson Lt. Col Darrin Haas said in a statement.
Johnson’s older cousin, Terracle Nelson, 46, said authorities told family members that he had been shot twice in the chest. Authorities on Sunday did not immediately respond to questions about the number of shots fired and TBI declined to comment on Nelson’s account of the shooting.
Evaniel Johnson said his grandson had taken classes at Tennessee State University, was the father of a young child and was preparing to help lead the family construction business. He said his grandson was also passionate about making music.
He said he wanted to review findings from investigators and any video of the shooting before making judgment.
“I believed in him, and I know he still had so much life ahead of him,” Johnson said. “The heartbreaking reality is that he will never have the chance to enjoy what we were building together. That is a pain no grandparent should ever have to endure.”
Mayor Paul Young called the shooting an “unfortunate incident” and said he was waiting to see the results of the TBI investigation before commenting further, according to a statement provided by spokesperson Penelope Huston.
A search of online records in federal and state courts Sunday did not immediately show any cases related to Johnson. In Memphis and in Nashville, local court records showed he had a handful of minor traffic violations.
Federal troops have been patrolling the city since October over the objections of Young, a Democrat. The troops are part of the Memphis Safe Task Force, convened by Trump and comprised of federal and local agencies.
The task force has led to more than 10,000 arrests, the U.S. Marshals Service reported in June.
There have been at least four officer-involved shootings tied to the task force, according to TBI data. Two of those shootings occurred in May and did not involve National Guard members discharging their weapons. The TBI also tied the task force to an October shooting, but did not specify which law enforcement agencies were involved.
The TBI and the National Guard did not respond to questions about whether Sunday’s shooting was the first instance troops had fired their weapons since they were deployed to the city.
For years, Memphis, whose population exceeds 600,000, has dealt with high violent crime, including assaults, carjackings and homicides. Both Democratic and Republican officials have noted decreases last year in some crime categories, preceding the deployment and paralleling trends across U.S. cities.
In April, the Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled that state and local Democratic officials lacked standing to block the deployment of federal troops in Memphis.
Brook is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.