National Guard troops fatally shoot armed man in Memphis, Tennessee says

Two Tennessee National Guard soldiers assigned to the Memphis Safe Task Force shot and killed an armed man in downtown Memphis in the early morning hours of July 5, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is now handling the case. Officials said the man was armed with a handgun and died after Guard medical specialists tried to treat him at the scene.

The shooting happened around 3:56 a.m. to just before 4 a.m. near Ida B. Wells Avenue and Gayoso Avenue, after Memphis police and National Guard personnel responded to a report of shots fired. Local reporting identified the man killed as 20-year-old Tyrin Johnson. Memphis police said the Guard fired its weapons during the encounter.

The episode puts a sharp spotlight on the chain of command behind the Memphis Safe Task Force, the multi-agency deployment that brought Tennessee Guard troops into the city for public safety patrols. The force began operating the week of Sept. 29, 2025, and Guard patrols started Oct. 10, 2025, after coordination among city, state and federal officials. City leaders have described the Guard’s role as a supporting one, calling it a force multiplier for Memphis police.

The deployment itself was built around a request from Tennessee officials for federal activation of the Guard under Title 32 orders, a status that keeps troops under state control while allowing federally supported duty. That framework matters because it shapes who oversees the troops on the street, who reviews their actions, and how deadly-force incidents are investigated when civilians are killed.

State investigators will now examine the shooting, a standard step when an armed encounter involving law-enforcement personnel leaves someone dead. The TBI has not released additional details about the confrontation, including what led the soldiers and Memphis police to the intersection or how the exchange of gunfire unfolded.

The Memphis mission has already drawn scrutiny because it has been tied to multiple high-stakes encounters. Local coverage says Johnson’s death may be at least the third fatality associated with the task force. Tennessee Military Department records also show that Guardsmen in the same deployment have previously detained a violent suspect and provided immediate first aid to a shooting victim in North Memphis, underscoring how quickly the unit has moved from patrol work into life-or-death situations on city streets.