Autopsy findings in the death of Tyrin Johnson conflict with initial accounts that he turned toward Tennessee National Guard troops with a handgun, intensifying scrutiny of the Memphis Safe Task Force and the military’s expanding role in domestic anti-crime operations.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. | An autopsy showing that Tennessee National Guard members fatally shot an armed 20-year-old man in the back is raising new questions about the circumstances of a deadly encounter involving troops assigned to a federal anti-crime operation in Memphis.
Tyrin Johnson, 20, was killed in the early morning hours of July 5 after authorities said he fled from law enforcement while armed following reports of gunfire near downtown Memphis.
Initial accounts indicated that Johnson turned toward Tennessee National Guard personnel with a handgun before two Guard members opened fire.
But an autopsy prepared by the West Tennessee Regional Forensic Center Office of the Medical Examiner found that the single bullet that killed Johnson entered the right side of his back and exited through his upper right chest.
