Overview
- The autopsy obtained by the family and reported Aug. 28 shows one bullet entered the right side of Tyrin Johnson’s back and exited the upper right chest and lists the manner of death as homicide.
- Memphis police and a Tennessee National Guard report say Johnson ran, turned and pointed a handgun at two Guard members before both fired their M17 service pistols, but the autopsy records only a single gunshot wound.
- A forensic pathologist who reviewed the report said the bullet’s slight upward path and the lack of soot or stippling are consistent with being shot from behind and from more than a few feet away, which could indicate Johnson was running away.
- The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says its inquiry remains open and no criminal charges have been filed to date while Johnson’s family and attorney are demanding surveillance or body-camera footage that authorities have not released to them.
- The shooting involved troops assigned to the Memphis Safe Task Force, a federal anti-crime deployment linked to multiple fatal shootings this year, and the autopsy’s contradiction of official accounts is likely to intensify questions about oversight and evidence disclosure.