A string of shootings in Memphis and a feverish police manhunt for a 19-year-old suspect that effectively closed down Tennessee’s second largest city for five hours ended Wednesday night when the police announced that they had captured the man.
The manhunt, which began after the first shooting at about 4:30 p.m., prompted authorities to encourage residents to stay inside. "If you do not need to be out, please stay home!” the city of Memphis said on Twitter during the manhunt.
In light of the apparent threat posed by a man who seemed to be driving around the city randomly shooting people, the Memphis Area Transit Authority suspended its trolley and bus service. The University of Memphis, already shaken by the recent abduction and killing of a woman jogging near the campus, went on lockdown.
The police said that the man was responsible for multiple shootings, some of which he might have filmed on Facebook Live.
The Memphis Police Department identified the man as Ezekiel Kelly. It was unclear what charges he will face, but as the police searched, they described him as "armed and dangerous.”
It was not immediately clear how many people had been shot Wednesday or whether the shootings were random. The authorities have not specified what shootings Kelly may be connected to and they did not answer calls for further comment.
Memphis Police reported two shootings Wednesday, at separate locations, that were a minute apart, around 4:30 p.m. A shooting on East Parkway South left a man dead at the scene, they said. In the second shooting, they said, a woman was shot on Norris Road near the southbound ramp to Interstate 240 and taken to a hospital in critical condition.
FOX13, a local TV station, reported that the police were at four crime scenes, including an Auto Zone store, where the gunman might have livestreamed the shooting of a man after entering the store.
Court records show that a warrant for first-degree murder was issued Wednesday for Kelly, though it was not clear what crime that was for.
In 2020, he was also charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder, possession of a firearm and reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon. Then 17, he was initially charged in juvenile court, the records said, but his case was transferred to adult court. The outcome of the case was not immediately clear.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times. © 2022 The New York Times Company
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