Memphis Police Department officers were involved in a pursuit Friday that ended with a 14-year-old being shot and hospitalized, and two juvenile suspects taken into custody. The Memphis Police are currently investigating the chain of events that took place around 5:00 p.m. when officers encountered a reportedly stolen vehicle at the intersection of South Goodlett and Arrowhead Road, as reported by Action News 5. After the vehicle fled and stopped at a Marathon gas station on 4835 Winchester, three suspects exited and tried to flee on foot.
During the chase, witnesses described the unfolding scene as chaotic, with one officer discharging their weapon at the young suspect. According to Local Memphis, the teenager sustained injuries and was immediately given first aid by the officer, including the application of a tourniquet. Transported to Le Bonheur hospital, the child's injuries were non-critical. The reason behind the shooting is still undergoing examination by the authorities.
No officers were hurt during the incident. Meanwhile, no charges have been filed against any of the juveniles involved as of yet. The stolen Chevy Equinox at the center of the pursuit had been reported stolen from a Memphis address earlier in the week, as mentioned by Assistant Chief Don Crowe in a release covered by WREG.
While the police incident unfolded, an unrelated series of shots was heard in the vicinity of Winchester at Goodlett. Suffering from unrelated violence, the suspects in the second shooting fled in a dark sedan, and the two victims were taken to Regional One in critical condition, as found by the officers of the unfolding at the scene. Reactions from the Memphis community highlight an all-too-familiar tension. Memphis resident Everett Cooper, echoing the sentiments of a community grappling with recurrent acts of violence, told ABC24, "It’s just crazy how this ain’t even the first time this has happened in my city. And ain’t nobody should be comfortable going, ‘Oh this is Memphis, this always what happens.’" Meanwhile, the local father Don Kenny expressed his concerns over safety, stating "There was another gunshot over there on the next street that didn’t even have nothing to do with (this shooting) but both of them happened simultaneously," and emphasizing his preemptive caution to keep his family indoors.
