MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Constant gunfire in one Memphis neighborhood has concerned citizens fearing for their safety and calling for a ceasefire.
Backed up right against I-40 near the Jackson Avenue exit, people living on Ronnie Avenue expect there to be some noise.
“We do have noise from the freeway,” said Laura Carr.
But that’s not the kind of noise they’re so concerned about it.
“We have a barrage of gunfire,” said one man.“They got automatic weapons.”
“When you hear the one, you hear five or six at a time,” said Carr.
Neighbors say the gunfire has been happening every week, and that it sounds like it’s coming from the woods that run in between their backyards and I-40.
“Especially on a weekend, you catch it at a good time. It’s just constant rapid fire just over and over,” said Dylan Lira.
This weekend, residents said the gunfire was at its worst.
“I know I heard at least a couple of hundred,” said one man.
“I don’t feel like I’ve had to duck, but it’s crossed my mind before,” said Lira.
Neighbors said they haven’t heard of anyone being injured yet, but they’re worried it could happen eventually. They’re also left to guess about who’s doing the shooting and why.
“I definitely think it’s kind of a shooting range mentality, that they just, they think they’re not hurting anybody, they’re down there shooting,” said Justin Lira.
It may be a harmless pastime to the shooters, but it’s a scary experience for people living on Ronnie Avenue that Carr wishes police would put an end to.
“I think maybe because they’re called so much because it happens so much. I would hate to say that it’s not taken seriously,” said Carr.
Memphis police said they didn’t taken any shooting-related reports on Ronnie Avenue in the last week, but residents told WREG they called police this weekend.
While neighbors say the shooting usually happens at night, this Sunday gunshots could be heard during the day from a nearby church.
