MEMPHIS, TN — More than a year after an officer-involved shooting in Orange Mound, FOX13 obtained surveillance video showing the moments leading up to the gunfire that killed Timothy Cook. Cook was identified in June 2025 as the man shot by Memphis police officers and died in the hospital days later.
The footage is now at the center of a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Cook’s family. Their attorneys say the video raises serious questions about the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s early account of what happened in the parking lot near Park Avenue and Graham Street.
The video does not appear to support the claim that Cook drove aggressively toward an officer, the family’s lawyers argue. Memphis police have two officers tied to the shooting, Timothy J. Davis and Terrianus Hall, and both remain employed by the department.
TBI said officers were responding to a large group in a parking lot
According to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Memphis Police officers were called to the parking lot near Park Avenue and Graham Street because of a large group there. Investigators later said preliminary information indicated that a man drove his vehicle aggressively toward an officer and hit him.
That early account is a key point of dispute in the lawsuit. Michael Gallagher of Gallagher & Kosner Law, one of the attorneys representing Cook’s family, said the surveillance video contradicts what investigators initially described and shows no evidence that Cook was accused of any crime before the shooting.
FOX13’s report also notes that the case has moved into the legal and review stage. The TBI confirmed the investigation has been turned over to the district attorney’s office, while the family’s attorneys say they have received a report from the DA’s Justice Review Unit explaining why prosecutors will not bring charges.
What the surveillance video appears to show before shots are fired
In the video, Cook is seen inside a gray SUV in a parking lot with a Memphis Police squad car nearby and two officers present. At one point, the squad car backs up and then pulls back into the lot, and officers switch on blue lights.
The officers then get out with guns drawn, and one walks toward Cook’s vehicle. Cook backs up and begins driving past the officer. FOX13 reported it is unclear whether the SUV swipes the officer as it moves away.
As the vehicle drives into traffic, the second officer fires through the passenger window and then fires several additional shots through the back window. The SUV eventually stops at a bus stop after hitting another car that was driving through the area.
Family lawyers say the footage undercuts the police justification
Gallagher said the video shows no indication that Cook was committing a crime and no evidence that any officers were injured. He argued the shooting does not match the early explanation given by investigators.
“Timothy was not accused of doing any crimes. The officers didn’t observe him doing any crimes,” Gallagher said. He also said there was no danger to Officers Hall or Davis when the later shots were fired through the SUV’s back window.
The family’s legal team says the footage supports claims in the wrongful death suit and points to a prior Department of Justice pattern-and-practice investigation into Memphis police. That investigation found officers had a documented pattern of shooting into moving vehicles, which the attorneys say is relevant to this case.
Medical examiner ruled Cook’s death a homicide
A medical examiner’s report listed Cook’s manner of death as homicide and said the cause was multiple gunshot wounds. One of the wounds was a gunshot through the back of his head.
Those findings add a formal medical conclusion to a case that has already become both a criminal investigation and a civil lawsuit. FOX13 reported that the district attorney’s office has reviewed the matter, but it is not clear from the available information what weight the Justice Review Unit gave to the facts now being argued in court.
The facts that are known publicly, however, are stark: Cook was shot during a police encounter in Orange Mound, and he later died at the hospital. The family says the surveillance video helps show that his death should be judged against what officers actually saw and did in those final moments.
The officers remain on the Memphis Police roster as the case continues
Memphis Police confirmed to FOX13 that Officers Timothy J. Davis and Terrianus Hall are still actively employed with the department. The department has not publicly detailed any discipline tied to the shooting in the information provided.
The case remains active in the sense that the wrongful death lawsuit is moving through the courts while investigators and prosecutors have already had the file. The family’s attorneys say the video, the medical examiner’s findings and the Justice Review Unit’s response all matter to how the shooting will ultimately be judged.
For now, the surveillance video is the clearest new piece of evidence made public. It shows the moments before the gunfire that ended Cook’s life and has become the basis for a direct clash between the police account and the family’s version of events.