MEMPHIS, Tenn. — I-240 west at Airways Boulevard was shut down for more than four hours Saturday night after a motorcyclist was shot and killed.
Police say the victim was driving west on I-240 around 11 p.m. when he was shot by someone, possibly in a dark-colored car, near the Airways exit ramp.
He was taken to the hospital in critical condition, where he later died.
“Well you know that’s real sad,” Sharon Bogan said. “I don’t know what’s going on with the neighborhood or anything like that.”
WREG found out there has been at least one interstate shooting in the city every month this year.
“You never know what anybody’s thinking at any time, you know? And if anyone’s targeted or if it’s just random. Especially if it’s random, there’s a lot of fear driving around,” Seth Morgan said.
This is already at least the tenth shooting on a Memphis interstate so far this year, and police say they still have no idea who the shooter is or a possible motive.
“I have felt maybe unsafe at times because you can see people that are probably experiencing road rage,” Morgan said.
In early January, a 21-year-old man’s car was riddled with bullets and he was shot in the back on I-240 near Highway 385. He told police he was on his way home from the gym and didn’t know where the bullets came from.
Later that month in the same area, a woman’s tire was shot after another car cut her off and followed her.
Police later released photos of a person of interest in the case who they believe may have been the driver.
In February, two men were shot on I-240 near Getwell after a fight at Pure Passion nightclub. Terrance Jones, 38, was later arrested on two counts of attempted first-degree murder and gun charges.
At last check, police were still looking for another man who they believe was also involved.
The following month, a man was shot on I-240 near Warford after he says someone followed him from another part of town.
Then in April, there were three interstate shootings in Memphis.
A woman was hurt in a road rage shooting on I-40 near the Jackson-Austin Peay exit, another woman was grazed by a bullet on I-240 near Millbranch with no idea who fired the shot or why, and an apparently random shooting hurt a man on I-55 at Shelby Drive.
And on Memorial Day, a man was shot in the head on I-240 near Quince when a car pulled up beside his truck and fired at least five rounds.
Another woman says her family’s camper was shot on the I-40 flyover earlier that day.
“It’s bad out here. It is terrible,” Bogan said. “I don’t know what we’re gonna do, we’re gonna have to do something. But it’s rough out here.”
The Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) has suggested that drivers try to avoid other aggressive drivers if possible, don’t make eye contact and don’t honk your horn, and find a safe way to call police or THP if you have to.
Police haven’t released the name of the victim in Saturday’s deadly shooting.
If you know anything, call Crime Stoppers at 528-CASH.
