On September 7, 2022, three people were killed and three others were injured after a gunman went on a
shooting spree
A spree killer is someone who commits a criminal act that involves two or more murders or homicides in a short time, in multiple locations. The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics defines a spree killing as "killings at two or more locations w ...
in
Memphis,
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
, United States. The attack was
livestreamed on
Facebook Live.
Shootings
The shootings began at around 12:56 a.m., when a man was found fatally shot on Lyndale Avenue.
At 4:38 p.m., another man was found fatally shot on South Parkway East.
Video surveillance showed that the gunman had fired multiple shots. Two minutes later, a woman with multiple gunshots to the leg was found at the intersection of Norris Road and Interstate 240. The gunman fled in a
sedan eastbound on Norris Road.
At 5:59 p.m., a man was found in critical condition outside of an
AutoZone on Jackson Avenue with multiple bullets wounds to the chest. At around the same time, the suspect, 19-year-old Ezekiel Kelly, posted a livestream on Facebook Live in which he reportedly entered the AutoZone, shot a man, and exited.
At 6:12 p.m., police received a tip that Kelly was on Facebook Live claiming that he would harm civilians. They subsequently launched a manhunt for Kelly and ordered a shelter-in-place. At 7:23 p.m., the gunman shot a woman on Poplar Avenue and took her SUV. A minute later, a man was found shot and injured further down the same street.
At 8:56 p.m., the gunman
carjacked
Carjacking is a robbery in which the item taken over is a motor vehicle.Michael Cherbonneau, "Carjacking," in ''Encyclopedia of Social Problems'', Vol. 1 (SAGE, 2008: ed. Vincent N. Parrillo), pp. 110-11. In contrast to car theft, carjacking is ...
a woman driving a
Dodge Challenger
The Dodge Challenger is the name of three different generations of automobiles (two of those being pony cars) produced by American automobile manufacturer Dodge. However, the first use of the Challenger name by Dodge was in 1959 for marketing a ...
on
Highway 51. Two minutes later, police located the vehicle northbound on
Interstate 55 and arrested Kelly.
Police later stated that a 17-year-old girl initially believed to have been killed in the shootings was killed by another suspect.
Accused and legal proceedings
Ezekiel Kelly, a 19-year-old male (born October 14, 2002), was previously convicted of a felony.
Shortly before he was arrested, Kelly suffered injuries after allegedly crashing a stolen vehicle in
Whitehaven
Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It is th ...
.
He has been charged with first degree murder. Additional charges were also filed including two additional counts of first-degree murder, along with terrorism and carjacking.
On March 27, 2023, prosecutors said they would pursue the death penalty if Kelly is convicted.
See also
*
Gun violence in the United States
*
2022 Detroit shootings
On August 28, 2022, a 19-year-old man allegedly opened fire in Detroit, Michigan, United States, randomly killing three people on the city's streets over a span of two hours and fifteen minutes. A fourth person and a dog were injured. Each person w ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Memphis shootings, 2022
2022 in Tennessee
2020s crimes in Tennessee
September 2022 crimes in the United States
Spree shootings in the United States
Livestreamed crimes
History of Memphis, Tennessee