Memphis police are searching for four men caught on surveillance video exchanging gunfire with a fifth man on a residential street in the New Pathways neighborhood, in an incident that struck an occupied car but left no one injured. Officers were dispatched to an aggravated assault call at the intersection of Cynthia Place and St. Paul Avenue late on August 28, and all five armed men fled the scene before police arrived.
According to the FOX13 Memphis report on the incident, four men fired shots at a fifth man, who fired back, with gunfire striking an occupied vehicle in the area. The Memphis Police Department says officers were sent to the scene at 11:16 p.m. that night after area surveillance video captured the exchange, according to an official Memphis Police Department news release. No injuries were reported despite the car being hit.
Police have released detailed descriptions of the suspects captured on camera. Per the department's release, Suspect #1 was a tall male with an afro-style haircut wearing a white tank top, blue jean shorts, and black shoes. Suspects #2 and #3 wore face masks, while Suspect #4 was seen in a blue shirt, black pants, and black shoes. The identity of the fifth man who exchanged fire remains unknown.
A Second Violent Incident In Days
The shootout comes more than seven weeks after a fatal shooting inside the same neighborhood. Hoodline previously reported a 16-year-old killed inside a New Pathways apartment on South Orleans Street on July 9, after which three armed suspects fled the scene in a white sedan. That shooting occurred 50 days before the Cynthia Place gunfight, marking two separate violent incidents involving armed suspects fleeing the same redeveloped neighborhood more than one month apart.
It remains unresolved whether the same group of suspects was involved in both incidents, and whether the surveillance footage from the August 28 shootout will lead to identifications through the public tip line. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 901-528-CASH. Crime Stoppers of Memphis and Shelby County also accepts anonymous tips and may offer cash rewards.
What Suspects Could Face Under Tennessee Law
If identified and charged, the suspects could face serious prison time depending on how prosecutors classify their intent. Under Tennessee Code § 39-13-102, aggravated assault can be a Class C felony carrying 3 to 15 years in prison, according to Justia Law. Reckless aggravated assault is a Class D felony punishable by 2 to 12 years and fines up to $5,000, per Shipman & Crim.
A Neighborhood Built To Replace Public Housing
The shootout unfolded in a neighborhood with a complicated history. New Pathways sits within the 880-acre South City revitalization district, launched in 2016 through a HUD Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grant to replace the segregation-era Foote Homes public housing project with mixed-income developments, according to Common Ground. Foote Homes was demolished during the redevelopment.
The back-to-back incidents there sit awkwardly against citywide crime trends that Memphis officials have been eager to tout. The Memphis Police Department reported that citywide Part I violent crime fell 36% year-to-date in the second quarter of 2026, with aggravated assaults dropping 30% compared to the same period in 2025 — numbers Chief C.J. Davis has attributed to the department's Sustain the Gains strategy. In 2025, Memphis recorded fewer than 200 homicides for the first time since 2019, alongside a 38% annual drop in shooting victims, down to 643 incidents from more than 1,000 in 2024.
To address the kind of multi-person gunfights seen on Cynthia Place, tracking and prosecuting repeat offenders is one possible approach. Whether that approach factors into the investigation of the August 28 shootout has not been detailed publicly. The incident also highlights the broader risks of multi-person gunfire in the city.
