MEMPHIS, Tenn. — People in Frayser said gangs are taking over.
“Man they killing, and robbing, and stealing everywhere,” a man who asked to not be identified by name said. “That’s just how it is. Ain’t no getting around it.”
“You got to duck and dodge and make sure your kids okay. It’s crazy because you shouldn’t have to feel like that wherever you go,” Aquaprecia Hollis said.
People who live in the community are terrified.
“This is not going to stop until somebody dies,” Reginald Johnson said.
Johnson’s son was one of the latest victims of violent crime in the area.
Police report Russell Yates and Tavish Gibson shot the victim on Wednesday in the back during a drive-by shooting on Durham.
“I guess after after he was getting ready to go home I guess they rolled up on him and shot him,” Hollis recounted.
Police said the victim’s house was shot nearly 50 times in July and August.
“Everybody feels the same way,” Johnson said. “It’s not safe around here. I’m telling you it’s not safe for anybody. When people get ready to move in one of these houses, when they get vacant, I let people know. Do you know where you moving at?”
Johnson stepped up security at his house with cameras as police said the crimes were the work of rival gangs.
When WREG asked Johnson if his son was in a gang, he responded “I don’t know” and stated it would come out in court.
“We do know about them,” Jimmy Chambers, Criminal Investigator with the Shelby County District Attorney General’s Office, said in response to the a question about knowing the gangs police said were involved. “And what the gangs don’t know in Memphis, Tennessee…they are stupid. We know who you are. It’s just a matter of time before we get them,” he said.
Chambers said he is keeping tabs on the gangs in Frayser but said police and prosecutors need your help.
“When we come out nobody knows anything. I don’t know who did this. I don’t know who did that. You do know. You just don’t want to know,” Chambers explained.
“Man you get dealt with snitching man,” the unidentified man said.
“I mean it’s either you get shot or just get stitches I mean however they put it,” Hollis explained.
Chambers said the mindset of keeping information on crimes in communities secret has to change before situation in the neighborhood can get better.
The DA’s office is hosting a public meeting on gangs in Frayser at Thomas Chapel Missionary Baptist Church.
The meeting will be held on October 21 at 5:30 p.m.
The two men arrested are expected in court Monday morning.
