Tennessee National Guard members fatally shoot man during Memphis patrol; state investigators probing circumstances

Two Tennessee National Guard members fatally shot a 20-year-old man in Memphis on Sunday after investigators said the man was found with a handgun and moved toward the soldiers during a patrol and pursuit, according to multiple reports citing local and state officials.

The shooting occurred in the early-morning hours around 4 a.m., when Memphis police said the soldiers were responding with local officers to reports of gunfire and began pursuing an armed man who was fleeing on foot, the reports said. Police and state officials said the situation escalated, resulting in the soldiers firing their weapons.

The man killed was identified by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation as Tyrin Johnson, 20, in a statement reported by national outlets. The bureau said nobody else was hurt during the shooting and that it was looking into the circumstances.

The National Guard members were on assignment as part of President Donald Trump’s Memphis Safe Task Force, which Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee deployed through the state’s National Guard, according to the reports. While the underlying program and chain of assignment are described by officials in the coverage, the name of the specific patrol operation and the soldiers’ identities were not released in the early reporting.

Officials said the state investigation will determine what the soldiers knew at the time and whether their use of force complied with applicable rules. A Tennessee National Guard spokesperson, Lt. Col. Darrin Haas, declined to identify the personnel involved in reported statements, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation directed follow-on questions to the relevant department as it evaluates next steps.

Local officials also said they were awaiting the results of the investigation before further comment, according to reporting. Multiple outlets characterized the incident as an officer-involved shooting being investigated by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation as part of the state’s process for reviewing lethal encounters involving law enforcement personnel.

The incident adds to the scrutiny of deployments that combine federal and state priorities for public safety in large cities, particularly when troops or other uniformed personnel are embedded in local operations. For residents, the immediate focus remains on public safety updates and the investigation’s findings, including any possible criminal or administrative action depending on what investigators determine.