4 Dead, 3 Wounded In Memphis Shooting Spree

Memphis Man Livestreams Random Shootings

Photo: Getty Images

Four people were killed and three others wounded in relation to a series of shootings in Memphis Wednesday (September 7) night, which included one attack taking place on a live stream shared on social media, NBC News reports.

Ezekiel Dejuan Kelly, 19, was charged with first-degree murder early Thursday (September 8) morning.

Kelly was initially identified by police around two hours prior to his arrest at 9:20 p.m. on Wednesday.

“Many families were shattered tonight,” Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr. said at a news conference Thursday via NBC News.

Police have not publicly identified the victims of the shooting as of Thursday morning and it was not immediately clear if Kelly knew any of the shooting victims prior to the attack.

Memphis Police initially responded to a reported shooting at around 1:00 a.m. Wednesday and located a man who was fatally shot in his driveway upon arrival. Additional shootings were reported to have taken place during the afternoon and evening.

Memphis Police tweeted an urgent alert warning residents of an armed man responsible for the incidents who was reported to have recorded at least one shooting on Facebook Live.

“We are getting reports that he is recording his actions on Facebook. We do not have a specific location of where he is now,” the tweet stated.

The department later identified Kelly and shared a photo of him, as well as details of multiple suspect vehicles, in a series of tweets prior to his arrest.

Police said Kelly killed the initial male victim at around 12:56 a.m. Another man was found fatally shot inside a vehicle at 4:38 a.m. and a woman was located with leg wounds at 4:40 a.m.

Kelly was later reported to have shared a Facebook Live stream of himself entering a store before shooting and critically wounding a man just before 6:00 p.m., which led to several residents notifying police and the launch of a citywide search.

Two more victims were later found dead by police, according to Memphis Police Chief Cerelyn 'CJ' Davis via NBC News.

Kelly fatally shot a woman at around 7:23 p.m. and fled the scene in her vehicle. A man was also found shot and wounded at the scene around that time, according to Davis.

Police found another woman who had been fatally shot at around 8:55 p.m.

Kelly carjacked a person at a Southaven, Mississippi gas station just prior to 9:00 p.m. and fled in their Dodge Challenger. The car's owner was uninjured during the incident.

Police located the charger minutes later and arrested Kelly after a high-speed chase. Officers located two weapons inside the car.

A motive for the shooting spree has not yet been determined. Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland referred to the incidents as a "senseless murder rampage" and revealed that Kelly had been released from prison less than six months ago.

Kelly had been charged with attempted first-degree murder and pleaded guilty to a lesser aggravated assault charge, serving 11 months of a three-year prison sentence.

Court records obtained by NBC News show that Kelly was 17 at the time of the previous incident.


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