A 3-year-old girl was shot Wednesday night at an apartment complex in the Fox Meadows area of Memphis, then rushed to a children's hospital by relatives instead of in an ambulance, according to family members and police. Authorities say her injuries are not life-threatening, but the incident has rattled a neighborhood already on edge after a violent spring.
According to FOX13 Memphis, officers were dispatched just before 11:30 p.m. after the girl arrived at Methodist South Hospital with a gunshot wound. She was later transferred to Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, where she was listed in noncritical condition. The girl's mother told investigators she did not call 911, choosing instead to phone her own mother, who drove them to the hospital. She also said another child was taken by the mother's brother in an Uber to a home in Southaven, Mississippi. The mother told police she heard at least one gunshot while the family waited for her boyfriend to make an exchange, and officers who later went to the apartment complex said they did not find evidence of a crime scene.
Neighborhood context
The shooting adds to a run of recent gun violence in the Fox Meadows corridor, including a targeted April attack that left one man dead and two others critically wounded. Action News 5 reported that attack happened in a strip-mall parking lot, and our earlier coverage of the deadly Fox Meadows ambush noted the area has a history of violent incidents.
Memphis police have not released suspect information or said whether anyone has been arrested, according to FOX13 Memphis. Community leaders and residents say they want more patrols and faster follow-up after shootings, and police often urge witnesses to come forward with tips to help investigators.
