A weekend of violence in Memphis has left two children with gunshot wounds, with the latest incident involving a six-year-old boy and a 23-year-old man, as per reports from Memphis Police Department (MPD). Action News 5 details a shooting on Shady Vista Drive that led to the man being transported in critical condition while the six-year-old was taken to LeBonheur Children's Hospital in non-critical condition.
Earlier in the day before the Frayser incident, a two-year-old boy shot himself after finding an unsecured gun – this was one of two separate events over a violent weekend, the child was rushed to a fire station for immediate care as coated by WREG News Channel 3. In the backdrop of these individual tragedies, Le Bonheur Children's Hospital has treated 29 children for gunshot wounds this year alone, with Dr. Nick Watkins, from the hospital, expressing deep concern, especially as the warmer months approach and schools recess, "When we’re talking about young kids, particularly when we’re talking about young kids that get access to unsecured firearms or who are innocent bystanders in a shooting and are injured, they’re particularly saddening," Dr. Watkins told WREG.
To curb the rising trend of such preventable injuries, Dr. Watkins is advocating for the safe, secure storage of firearms - suggesting that firearms be locked away separately from ammunition he said, "We know that these injuries are preventable and we can make a difference," echoing a mantra of prevention and care that might prove pivotal in changing the worrying statistics, as per WREG News Channnel 3.
Officers were called to Ridgecrest Apartments on Woodcliff Drive around 4 p.m. after a stray bullet struck a young child and injured a man, according to a FOX13 Memphis report. Authorities are working to gather more details about the shooting and are asking anyone with information to contact CrimeStoppers at 901-528-CASH.
