Early this morning, a Memphis Police Department officer and a civilian lost their lives in a downtown Memphis crash that followed a shooting incident. A second officer was critically injured in the accident. According to Action News 5, the crash occurred around 3 a.m. at the intersection of Mississippi Boulevard and South Danny Thomas Boulevard.

The officers were responding to the scene where a police squad car and a gray Nissan had collided. All three men involved—one civilian and two officers—were taken to Regional One Hospital in critical condition, where an officer and the driver of the Nissan were later pronounced dead. Interim Memphis Police Chief C.J. Davis described the scene as unclear in terms of what led to the devastating crash and indicated that the civilian driver had sustained a gunshot wound prior to the collision, as obtained by FOX13 Memphis.

Investigations revealed that the fatal incident may have been the result the a disagreement that escalated into a shooting near S. Parkway East and Mississippi Boulevard before the crash. The Tennessee Highway Patrol has been tasked with investigating the crash itself, while the MPD Homicide Bureau is examining the shooting to understand the sequence of events leading to this tragic outcome, as reported by FOX17.

The area surrounding the crash was blocked off for several hours following the accident, disrupting early morning traffic and compelling commuters to seek alternative routes. No charges have been filed as investigators continue to piece together this complex incident, and the MPD has not released further details on the condition of the injured officer or the whereabouts of the second individual involved in the initial shooting.