Shooting spree in Memphis leaves 4 dead, 3 injured

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Police in Memphis, Tennessee, said a 19-year-old man is responsible for several random shootings Wednesday that he recorded on social media. Ezekiel Kelly is accused of killing four people and wounding three others during the shooting spree.

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Update 1:50 a.m. EDT Sept. 8: At a news conference early Thursday, Memphis police Chief Cerelyn “C.J.” Davis told reporters that Ezekiel Kelly, 19, the suspect in the shootings across the city on Wednesday, was responsible for the shooting deaths of four people. Kelly also wounded three people and caused at least eight crime scenes, WHBQ-TV reported.

“This has been a horrific week for the city of Memphis,” Davis said, referencing Wednesday’s shootings and the death of Memphis teacher Eliza Fletcher, who was abducted while jogging near the University of Memphis on Friday morning. Her body was found and identified Sunday.

“I am angry,” Mayor Jim Strickland said during Thursday’s news conference. “I am angry for them, and I am angry for our citizens.”

Update 11:28 p.m. EDT Sept. 7: Memphis Police confirmed that 19-year-old Ezekiel Kelly was connected to a shooting at an AutoZone in the city, WHBQ-TV reported. The man claimed to have shot five people during a Facebook Live video, according to the television station. In the video, a man appeared to walk into an AutoZone store, aim a gun at a man and pull the trigger.

Update 10:21 p.m. EDT Sept. 7: Ezekiel Kelly, the 19-year-old man believed to be responsible for several random shootings in the Memphis area, is in custody, according to the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Office. He was arrested after wrecking in Whitehaven neighborhood of Memphis near the Mississippi state line, WHBQ-TV reported.

Court records show that Kelly was charged with attempted first-degree attempted murder due to an incident on Feb. 3, 2020, according to the television station. He was also charged with aggravated assault, employment of a firearm with intent to commit a dangerous felony and reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon.

According to the sheriff’s office, Kelly carjacked a Dodge Challenger after driving a gray Toyota with an Arkansas license plate.

Just after 7 p.m. CDT, West Memphis police confirmed that Kelly, had crossed into Crittenden County, Arkansas, but carjacked an individual before heading back to Memphis.

Kelly had been driving a light blue Infiniti, then a grey Toyota with Arkansas plate AEV63K, police said.

Update 9:55 p.m. EDT Sept. 7: The Memphis Police Department identified the alleged shooter as 19-year-old Ezekiel Kelly, WHBQ-TV reported. Kelly remains at large, and police said he was last seen driving a gray Toyota with an Arkansas tag, AEV63K.

The University of Memphis was placed on lockdown and the city’s trolley and bus services were halted indefinitely, according to the television station.

Original report: The Memphis Police Department identified the alleged shooter as a 19-year-old man, WHBQ-TV reported.

The man was allegedly driving a blue or silver Infiniti and recording himself shooting people on Facebook Live, police said. Police later said the man was believed to be driving a gray Toyota SUV.

The man claimed to have shot five people during a Facebook Live video, WHBQ reported. In that video, the man appeared to walk into an AutoZone store, aim a gun at a man and pull the trigger, according to the television station.

The City of Memphis issued a statement at 7:55 p.m. EDT urging residents to stay at home.

“If you do not need to be out, please stay home!” the city tweeted.

Before the alert was issued, there have been at least three shootings reported today by Memphis Police, WHBQ reported.

A 24-year-old man was killed at 12:56 a.m. CDT, and a man was fatally shot at a BP gas station at 4:35 p.m., police said. One minute later, a woman was shot and critically wounded, according to the television station.

It is unclear whether the shootings were connected to the man sought by Memphis police.

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