Late Tuesday, a shooting along a West Tennessee interstate left four children and one adult in critical condition. As of now, two people have been charged with murder in connection to the incident.
The Memphis Police Department reported that a shooting occurred on a section of Interstate 240 located east of downtown Memphis around 5 p.m. Upon arrival, officers discovered a car that had been struck by numerous bullets but was unoccupied.
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According to police, the five victims, including a 30-year-old man and children aged 2 to 8, arrived at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Memphis in critical condition via a private vehicle. The children and the man were later transferred to other hospitals for further treatment.
According to the police department, the suspect vehicle was a 2022 gray Mitsubishi Outlander, which had been stolen on June 9. Officers quickly identified the SUV and issued a citywide call for other officers to be on the lookout. When the vehicle was spotted, officers attempted to stop it, but the suspects chose to flee, initiating a high-speed chase.
As the suspects tried to flee, they opened fire on the police. The chase ended when the driver crashed the vehicle into a ditch, approximately 10 miles northwest of the site of the initial shooting. The two men immediately fled on foot, but the police quickly apprehended them.
In a social media post on Wednesday, the police announced that Lorenzo Watson, aged 18, and Kendrick Ray, aged 21, have been charged with several counts of attempted first-degree murder, using a firearm during a felony, evading arrest, and felony theft.
It remains unclear whether Watson or Ray have enlisted the services of private attorneys or if they will be represented by the public defender’s office. Ray, who faces charges of attempted first-degree murder, carjacking, and employment of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, was also wanted by authorities. Despite attempts to reach out to the Shelby County Public Defender’s Office, they have not yet provided a comment on the matter.
Within 24 hours, Memphis interstate witnessed two violent incidents, with one of them being a shooting that took place in the afternoon. The police reported another shooting on I-240 at midnight on Tuesday, where the suspect in a black Chevrolet Cobalt pointed a handgun at another vehicle and fired multiple times. Although the victim’s car was hit, fortunately, the woman remained unharmed. After pulling off the interstate, her car stalled, and the suspect followed her until she sought refuge inside a bystander’s car and managed to escape.
