US releases video after fatal shot by National Guard serviceman — Der Spiegel
The Shelby County Prosecutor’s Office in the United States released footage from body cameras, surveillance cameras and an eyewitness’s phone following the death of 20-year-old Tyrin Johnson in Memphis, Tennessee. The man died at the scene after a fatal shot by a National Guard serviceman on July 5. Der Spiegel reports.
What the footage shows
The released footage shows neither Johnson’s initial encounter with the military personnel nor the moment of the shooting. Instead, video from a police camera shows several National Guard members holding their pistols aimed at a man lying on the sidewalk. They order him to raise his hands and turn over.
A police officer called an ambulance and then asked the military personnel whether they had a first-aid kit or other medical supplies. Immediately after the shooting, at least six National Guard servicemembers were at the scene. One video shows a servicemember moving a pistol that was lying on the ground; a police officer ordered that the weapon be left in place.
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Discrepancies in accounts
According to investigators, Johnson was armed and died at the scene. At the same time, an autopsy report commissioned by his family states that the man was wounded in the back. This contradicts the accounts of the police and the National Guard, according to which 20-year-old Johnson was standing in front of the servicemembers with a weapon when they opened fire.
According to authorities, at about 4 a.m., military personnel and local police responded to a shooting call and pursued an armed man fleeing on foot. The National Guard members were part of a nationwide task force created by US President Donald Trump a year earlier.
The district attorney has not yet decided whether to bring charges in the case of Johnson’s death. His family’s lawyer said that the investigation should focus on the circumstances of the fatal shot and whether the use of the weapon was justified. The released footage does not show the moment of the shooting.
