NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The grandfather of a young man fatally shot by Tennessee National Guard members in Memphis is demanding to see video evidence and says he won’t stop fighting for answers until he does.
Evaniel Johnson is waiting to find out whether footage backs up the law enforcement account that his 20-year-old grandson, Tyrin Johnson, turned toward guard members while holding a gun as he ran from them early Sunday morning. Memphis police say the guard members had responded to a report of gunfire in the area.
The National Guard members were part of a crime-fighting patrol in Memphis that was established last year by President Donald Trump, who has deployed troops and federal agents to Democratic-led cities he has characterized as being overrun by crime.
“Show me the video,” Evaniel Johnson told The Associated Press. “Please show me that — and then I’m OK. Until you show me that, I’m gonna fight and advocate for my grandson until there’s no breath in me.”
Johnson, who previously worked as a correctional officer with the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office in Nashville, does not believe his grandson would have attempted to shoot at guard members, and questions why deadly force would be necessary against someone who was running away. He described his grandson as “no hoodlum.”
According to the grandfather, Tyrin Johnson had been carrying a firearm for his own protection after being attacked — or “jumped” — recently in Nashville. He was reportedly on edge about a vague dispute that had been playing out on social media and feared being targeted again.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has confirmed it is reviewing the shooting and that two guard members discharged their weapons. The Johnson family says TBI officials told them Tyrin was struck twice in the chest. The Memphis Police Department declined to say what video footage existed or when it might be made public.
The National Guard did not immediately respond to questions about whether the two members involved in the shooting had been placed on administrative leave.
Tennessee Senate Democratic Leader Raumesh Akbari and Chairwoman London Lamar, both representing Memphis, released a joint statement offering their condolences to the family and stressing the importance of a transparent investigation. The two lawmakers called on the TBI to release any available video as soon as doing so would not compromise the investigation.
“Transparency serves everyone — the Johnson family, the members of the National Guard involved, and a community that deserves confidence in the outcome, whatever the facts ultimately show,” they wrote.
State Rep. Justin Pearson, a Democrat seeking a U.S. House seat, also called for a thorough and open investigation and went further, demanding that the federal task force be dissolved.
“Memphis does not need armed soldiers in our streets terrifying our people,” Pearson said in a statement.
The deployment of Tennessee National Guard troops to Memphis under President Trump’s directive drew a divided reaction from residents and even prompted a lawsuit, though it did not spark large-scale protests. Data from the TBI indicates that at least three people have died as a result of four separate shootings involving officers connected to the federal task force.
Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee welcomed the federal intervention, while Democratic Memphis Mayor Paul Young took a more measured stance — acknowledging he never requested the National Guard’s presence but recognizing the deployment would proceed regardless of his position.
A review of online federal, state, and local court records from Memphis, Nashville, and elsewhere shows Tyrin Johnson had no significant criminal history beyond a few traffic violations. In May, he was arrested for failing to appear at a 2025 hearing related to a driving-without-a-license charge in Wilson County, just outside Nashville. Court records show he was released on bond.
He had been enrolled at Tennessee State University from August 2023 through May 2024, according to university spokesperson Angel Higgins.
Evaniel Johnson said he had hoped his grandson would go back to school and was in the process of grooming him to take on a larger role in the family’s real estate development business. He had even lined up a Nashville project for Tyrin to manage in the coming weeks.
On the Fourth of July, the Johnson family had gathered at Evaniel’s Nashville home to play cards on the back porch. He wishes now that his grandson had stayed.
“He was down there like all the rest of the people trying to enjoy the Fourth of July,” Johnson said. “His future was buying homes, living life, taking care of his little baby. He had a future. It’s gone now.”
