On a busy Fourth of July weekend in downtown Memphis, two Tennessee National Guard soldiers shot and killed a 20-year-old Black man while chasing him through city streets, with no body camera footage to show what really happened.
Story Snapshot
- Two National Guard soldiers on a city “Safe Task Force” shot and killed 20-year-old Tyrin Johnson during a foot chase in downtown Memphis.
- Officials say Johnson was armed and had fired shots, but there is no body camera video from the soldiers to back up their account.
- Johnson’s family says he carried a gun for protection, questions the official story, and is demanding release of every available video.
- The case is deepening public fears about armed troops doing police work and about a justice system seen as protecting itself instead of citizens.
What Officials Say Happened in Downtown Memphis
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) agents say the deadly chase started after reports that shots were fired near downtown Memphis on the night of July 4. Memphis Police officers began to pursue 20-year-old Tyrin Johnson, whom TBI later identified as the suspect. Officials say Johnson was armed with a handgun while he ran, and that he had fired shots in the area before the pursuit started. Two National Guard soldiers assigned to the city’s Safe Task Force joined the chase on foot and fired their weapons during the confrontation.
National Guard soldiers kill 20-year-old Tyrin Johnson in Memphis, Tennessee https://t.co/F6njhHdB0s
— Socialist Equality Party (Yorkshire) (@SEP_Yorkshire) July 7, 2026
Memphis Police say that during the pursuit, Johnson turned toward the National Guard soldiers while holding the gun, and that this movement caused the soldiers to shoot. Johnson was pronounced dead at the scene, and no police officers or Guard members were hurt. Authorities have not alleged that Johnson shot directly at officers, only that he had fired earlier and then turned toward soldiers with the weapon during the chase. TBI is now leading the investigation and has said the case remains “active and ongoing.”
Family Questions the Story and Demands Video Proof
Johnson’s family has publicly challenged key parts of the official account and is demanding every piece of video and evidence. His grandfather, Evaniel Johnson, told reporters that TBI informed the family that Tyrin was shot twice in the chest. That detail raises questions for the family about whether he was really turning and pointing a gun while fleeing or was instead still running or even trying to protect himself. The grandfather also said Tyrin carried a gun because he had recently been beaten in Nashville and feared a feud that had spilled onto social media.
The family’s core demand is simple: show the video that proves Tyrin pointed or turned with the gun as police and Guard members claim. But National Guard soldiers on city patrol do not wear body cameras, so there is no direct video of the moment the soldiers fired. That leaves the most important part of the story—the seconds before the shots—resting only on officer and soldier statements. Local news reports show Johnson’s relatives insisting they will not accept the official explanation unless dashcam or other footage backs it up.
The Big Gap: No Cameras on Armed Troops Doing Police Work
The lack of body cameras on the National Guard soldiers is a major reason this case is drawing anger from people across the political spectrum. For years, Americans have been told that body cameras help keep everyone honest—citizens and officers. When police do not follow camera rules, they can face discipline or even charges, as happened recently to a Tennessee officer who was indicted after failing to activate his body camera during a controversial encounter. Yet in Memphis, the state has put armed soldiers on city streets without the same basic transparency tools.
This shooting also comes as TBI investigations into law-enforcement shootings in Tennessee have been rising, showing how often “officer-involved” gunfire leads to death or serious injury. Data from national research shows fatal police shootings are more likely in urban areas for Black residents than for White residents, feeding long-standing fears in cities like Memphis. When you combine high gun violence, armed patrols, and communities that already doubt the system, a single shooting like Johnson’s can feel less like an isolated tragedy and more like part of a pattern.
Why Armed National Guard Patrols Worry Both Left and Right
This case is forcing a tough question: should military troops, even National Guard soldiers, be doing armed police work in American cities at all? Local Democratic leaders in Tennessee previously sued to stop the deployment of Guard soldiers for street patrols, arguing it violated state limits on using military forces inside the state. A state appeals court overturned that injunction in 2025, clearing the way for the Memphis Safe Task Force to operate with armed Guard troops on patrol. Now, a young man is dead, and critics say this is exactly the kind of outcome they feared.
National Guard soldiers kill 20-year-old Tyrin Johnson in Memphis, Tennessee https://t.co/AbFSNxSRqm
— Angelos Papadopoulos (@angelohrg) July 7, 2026
The anger is not coming only from one side. Many conservatives already mistrust “big government” and see this as another example of a distant state using force instead of fixing root problems like crime, jobs, and broken families. Many liberals see armed troops in a majority-Black city as echoing civil rights–era abuses, when police and Guard units were used to control, not protect, Black communities. Both sides share one growing belief: the people in charge are more focused on protecting themselves than on protecting ordinary citizens.
What Comes Next: Evidence, Accountability, and a Bigger Debate
For now, TBI says it will keep investigating, collect forensic evidence on Johnson’s handgun, and review any dashcam footage from Memphis Police. Civil rights groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union are being urged by activists to demand full release of every video, audio recording, and report tied to the shooting. Lawmakers in Tennessee have already begun asking questions in public hearings, pressing for answers on why Guard troops are armed on city streets and what rules govern their use of deadly force.
Whatever the final report says, this case cuts to deeper worries shared by many Americans. People are tired of feeling like the deck is stacked, whether they live in a crime-heavy city or a rural county. National data show that gun violence kills tens of thousands each year and falls hardest on Black and Latino communities in urban areas. At the same time, studies find that putting more armed officers or guards into tense settings often does not reduce violence and can lead to more deaths. In that light, the killing of Tyrin Johnson is not only about one tragic chase in Memphis. It is a test of whether government can use force in a way that is both effective and accountable—or whether the gap between citizens and the people with guns and power will keep growing.
Sources:
military.com, npr.org, youtube.com, facebook.com, instagram.com, newsfromthestates.com, abcnews.com, cbsnews.com, rockinst.org, jamanetwork.com, everytownresearch.org, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, casbs.stanford.edu, giffords.org, bjs.ojp.gov