MEMPHIS, Tenn. –The suspect shot and killed by police had a dark and violent past.
Few details about the shooting are known at this point, while the TBI handles the investigation.
We dug deep into Johnathan Bratcher’s past and found out he was no stranger to Memphis Police or federal law enforcement for that matter.
Friends described Johnathan Bratcher, or Tojo as many knew him, as an all around good guy.
“He was a cool guy, real nice, friendly, enjoyed hanging with the kids, having a good time,” one told WREG.
But his criminal record may indicate otherwise.
WREG uncovered charges ranging from possession of marijuana and driving on a suspended license all the way up to more serious charges.
In 2001, he was charged with aggravated robbery and assault.
In 2008, he was arrested for shooting the windows out of someone’s car and pointing a gun at them at a house on the 1300 block of James.
Police said he came back that same day and fired a shotgun into the house with 12 people inside.
Because he was already a convicted felon, he faced federal weapons charges.
He was convicted and sentenced to just over 7 years in prison and 3 years supervised release.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the western district of Tennessee told WREG he violated the conditions of that release this past November, but would not say how.
We did find he was arrested for possessing marijuana and oxycodone in November.
He made an initial appearance on that warrant at the end of November, and was due in court next month.
Friends said that may explain why he would run from police regardless of whether or not he was the one with a gun.
“He’s on federal paper,” one friend said. “Only thing I can say , if whoever was in the car with him had a gun, he probably didn’t want to take chances with anyone having a gun. So, he may have run and said, ‘You all get out.’ You know what I mean?”