What the newly released video shows
The Shelby County District Attorney's Office released a set of videos on Monday related to the death of Tyrin Johnson, according to CBS News. The material includes police body camera footage, recordings from fixed street cameras and a clip filmed by a bystander on a phone.
In the body camera video, Tennessee National Guard members point their service pistols at Johnson as he lies on his back on a Memphis sidewalk. Guard members can be heard shouting "Hands!" and "Turn over!" A Memphis police officer calls for an ambulance by radio and then asks the troops, "Hey, you guys got a medical kit or anything?"
The footage shows at least six Guard members at the scene right after the shooting. One moves a handgun lying on the ground until a police officer tells him to leave it alone. Just before the video ends, a Guard member starts cutting away Johnson's shirt.
What happened before the shooting
Authorities said Guard members were assisting local police who were responding to reports of gunfire around 4 a.m. They began chasing an armed man who was running away on foot. Street camera footage shows a figure in dark clothing shooting across a vacant lot toward three people on a sidewalk.
The body camera of one of two Memphis officers shows them hearing shots, then walking and running toward the sound. They say over the radio that they are pursuing an armed man on foot. The video is blurry because of the officer's movement. It picks up shouting, one gunshot and then several more.
A Guard report obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request said two Guard members answered the police radio call, got out of their vehicle and approached the suspect. According to the report, the man "rounded on them and pointed a tan handgun at them." It said both Guard members fired their M17 service handguns and that Memphis police arrived soon afterward.
Conflicting accounts and the family's response
Investigators said Johnson, who was armed, died at the scene from a single gunshot wound. An autopsy report shared by his family found that the bullet entered his back. That finding contradicts police and Guard accounts that he was facing the troops with a gun when they fired.
André C. Wharton, an attorney for Johnson's family, noted that the released videos do not capture the shooting or the moments right before it. They also do not show how Johnson first encountered the Guard members. In a statement reported by CBS affiliate WREG, Wharton said the investigation "must stay focused on the moment the guardsman fired the fatal shot and whether that action was reasonable."
Wharton also asked for patience while his team works to obtain what he called critical, objective evidence. Johnson's grandfather, Evaniel Johnson, said the young man was the father of a small child and was preparing to help lead the family's construction business.
The task force and what comes next
The Guard members were part of a federal task force created by President Trump. Last year he sent troops and federal agents into Democrat-led cities that he described as overrun with crime. Tennessee's Republican governor, Bill Lee, deployed the Guard to support the effort. The task force was involved in four fatal shootings from May through July.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is still investigating. District Attorney Steve Mulroy said he has not decided whether to file charges. A Tennessee National Guard spokesperson did not immediately respond to messages from CBS News. Ed Yarbrough, an attorney for the two Guard members, said they have no comment at this time.
