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On June 29, at the well-known Tennessee climbing gym Memphis Rox, an argument between two individuals resulted in the death of 25-year-old climber and gym employee Jarmond Johnson.
According to early news reports, an argument around 4 p.m. that day escalated into a deadly shooting in the main entrance of the gym. A second victim of the shooting, whose name has not been released, died later of his wounds in the hospital. A third person, twenty-eight-year-old Farris Haley, has been arrested and charged with tampering with evidence after he allegedly grabbed a gun and attempted to flee when police arrived at the scene.
Yesterday, Memphis Rox announced on Instagram that it would be closed for a week, while its staff and community processed their grief.
According to an individual who identified as a witness in a Reddit post, Johnson acted as one of “a few heroes that emerged” during the shooting.
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Johnson was a prominent and beloved member of the Memphis climbing community. He served as the outreach coordinator and gang activist at Memphis Rox. In January 2024, he summited Mt. Kenya, Kenya’s second highest peak after Mt. Kilimanjaro. He even worked with Alex Honnold and the Honnold Foundation to install solar panels at Memphis Rox.
The climbing community is already reeling from this tragic news. Pro climber Sam Elias posted that Johnson “was so old for how young you were” and that Johnson always made him laugh.
Memphis Rox is a nonprofit climbing gym dedicated to making climbing more accessible, and providing “rehabilitation, healing, and a renewed sense of hope to challenged communities.” You can support their mission and community here.
We have reached out to Memphis Rox for comment but have not heard back at this time. This is a developing story—we will update it as new information becomes available.
