MEMPHIS, Tenn. — When an attack is violent and out of control, it can be hard to determine who’s who. That’s what police and gang investigators have to figure out in the Kroger attack at Highland and Poplar.
“You are dealing with children and when they see something that is exciting to them, they are just gonna get in and go with the flow,” Jimmy Chambers, a gang investigator with the District Attorney’s office, said.
Witnesses said they heard the teens shouting “FAM Mob” as they kicked and stomped a Kroger worker and hurt two others.
“Just like everyone was screaming out the name of a gang, that doesn’t mean that everybody out there is a part of that gang,” Chambers said.
In fact, one teen in the attack seemed to shout “East side” on the video tape .
Chambers works to weed out gangs, and knew early on there was likely not just one gang involved.
“You can have one or two guys who call themselves representing that particular group, just to holler out their names and you will get one or two more people to repeat what he is saying,” Chambers said. “After some of the investigation was done and I heard a few things out on the street, I just figured it wasn’t just Fam Mob.”
He says the Fam Mob gang is a group rejected by other gang members, but is just as violent.
“This particular sect that we are talking about they are young, stupid kids that need an education. A lot of them are uneducated,” Chambers said.
He says they run out, draw a crowd, and attack anyone in their path.
“You have a lot of children out there that didn’t want to be involved in it, a lot of onlookers that saw what was going on, and they want to tell how it really is,” Chambers said.
More kids are talking as police continue to investigate this case. Police haven’t identified other particular gangs, but say more arrests are likely.
