Two Tennessee National Guard soldiers fatally shot a 20-year-old man in downtown Memphis on Sunday morning, marking the second fatal shooting by a member of a federal task force in just four days and reigniting scrutiny over the militarized policing effort that President Trump established in the city last year.
The victim, identified as Tyrin Johnson, was shot around 4 a.m. after Memphis police officers responded to reports of gunshots in the area near Ida B. Wells Avenue and Gayoso Avenue. Officers observed Johnson carrying a handgun as he fled on foot. Tennessee National Guard soldiers assigned to the Memphis Safe Task Force joined the pursuit. During the chase, police said Johnson turned toward the National Guard members with his weapon, prompting two soldiers to open fire and kill him.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is conducting an independent investigation into the shooting at the request of Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy. No law enforcement officers were injured in the incident.
Johnson’s death marks the second fatal shooting involving Memphis Safe Task Force members in four days. Just days earlier, on May 20, a Homeland Security Investigations special agent fatally shot 25-year-old Jonah Neal in his home on the 2100 block of Westchester Drive. Neal was armed with multiple weapons and had made threats to harm himself. As of June, investigators were still determining whether Neal died from the agent’s gunfire or self-inflicted stab wounds.
Before that, in May, Drug Enforcement Administration agents shot 41-year-old Darrin Pigram while serving an arrest warrant at a Burger King in the Frayser neighborhood. The DEA said Pigram reached for a gun in his waistband, leading an agent to open fire. Pigram’s family disputed the account, with witnesses stating he was not armed with a gun.
The task force, established by a Trump executive order in September 2025, brings together federal agencies including the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service, DEA, and Homeland Security, along with the Tennessee National Guard and local law enforcement. According to the U.S. Marshals Service, the task force has made more than 10,000 arrests and recovered 1,708 illegal firearms since operations began.
Johnson’s grandfather, Evaniel Johnson, a former Davidson County sheriff’s deputy, is demanding the release of video footage of the shooting. “Show me the video,” he told reporters. “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.”
Evaniel Johnson disputed the official account, saying his grandson was not the type to turn a gun on law enforcement. According to the grandfather, Tyrin Johnson carried a gun for protection after being attacked recently in Nashville and was concerned about a social media feud. He said his grandson was a student at Tennessee State University, the father of a young child, and was preparing to help lead the family’s construction and home development business.
The shooting has intensified controversy over the federal task force’s presence in Memphis. Democratic state lawmakers called the incident a “tragic” occurrence and demanded a “clear and transparent accounting” in Johnson’s death. State Senator Raumesh Akbari and State Senator London Lamar released a statement describing Johnson as “a young father and a student with his whole life ahead of him.”
Memphis Mayor Paul Young, a Democrat who has objected to the federal presence in his city, called the shooting an “unfortunate incident” and said he would await the results of the TBI investigation before commenting further. The federal deployment has faced opposition from local Democratic officials and some residents, though a Tennessee court ruled in April that state and local Democratic officials lacked standing to block it.
The task force has been credited by the Trump administration with significant law enforcement achievements, including the seizure of illegal firearms and the recovery of missing children. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said the task force has “led to drops in crime, removal of dangerous criminals from the streets, recovery of missing children, confiscation of illegal weapons and more.”
However, critics have raised concerns about excessive force and First Amendment violations. In May, four Memphis residents filed a lawsuit represented by the American Civil Liberties Union alleging that task force members have engaged in a pattern of retaliating against residents for filming their operations. The residents claimed they have been followed by law enforcement officers and that unmarked vehicles and individuals in tactical vests have appeared outside their homes after they observed the task force.
When the task force launched operations in October, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller urged members to “police aggressively,” telling them at a press conference: “You are unleashed.”
The shooting is the sixth use-of-force investigation involving the Memphis Safe Task Force since its deployment began. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said it has opened an independent investigation into Sunday’s incident and will work with investigators to determine the series of events that led to the shooting.