A man was rushed to the hospital in critical condition Wednesday afternoon after a shooting in Memphis's Soulsville neighborhood, according to police. Officers were first called to a day care on Mississippi Boulevard just after 4:30 p.m., only to determine the shooting had actually happened at a home on nearby Ryder Avenue.
According to WREG, officers responded to a shooting call at 1000 Mississippi Blvd. and ultimately found a crime scene in the 1100 block of Ryder Ave. Action News 5 reported that police confirmed the day care itself was not involved in the shooting. The man was taken to the hospital by a private vehicle rather than an ambulance, and he remained in critical condition, police said.
No Suspect Information Released
As of publication, there was no word on a possible suspect, per Memphis police. The station's report notes investigators have not released any details about who might have fired the shots or why. Police asked anyone with information about the shooting to call Crimestoppers at 901-528-CASH.
The shooting investigation remains ongoing, and WREG's Vivian Nguyen reported no additional details were available by the time the story was published. It marks the second shooting reported in the Soulsville area this month; a separate incident on Oct. 14 left two people in critical condition, according to Local Memphis.
Wednesday's Shooting Comes Amid Falling Crime Rates Citywide
The incident comes even as broader crime statistics for Memphis have been trending downward. Preliminary data released by the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission showed reported crime continued a steady decline during the first half of 2026 compared to 2025 and previous years. The major violent crime rate dropped 31.5 percent compared to 2025 and 30.4 percent countywide, the commission reported.
Compared with the first half of 2023, the violent crime rate has plummeted by 45.0 percent in Memphis and 44.0 percent across all of Shelby County, according to the same release. The first half of 2026 was also lower than the first half of 2011, down 5.2 percent in Memphis and 8.7 percent throughout Shelby County. The city's Safer Communities Dashboard, maintained by the City of Memphis, separately tracks crime, arrests and traffic accidents across a rolling three-year window updated daily.
