MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Five people, including four young children, are in critical condition following yet another interstate shooting in Memphis.
Doctors at Le Bonheur say unfortunately, these days they are seeing more young gunshot victims in their emergency department.
MPD responded to the shooting yesterday on I-240 near Poplar Avenue during the height of the evening rush hour traffic.
Right now, two men are charged in the shooting – 21-year-old Kendrick Ray and 18-year-old Lorenzo Watson.
The victims were a 30-year-old man and four children, ranging in age from two to eight, who were taken to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital.
Inside the Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital Emergency Department, it has sadly become a common occurrence to see kids who have been caught in the crossfire of gun violence in Memphis.
“Frankly, it’s devastating, especially to the families, and gun violence has a large ripple effect, not only to that victim and their immediate family, but to the whole community and Memphis at large,” said Dr. Nick Watkins, a pediatric emergency medicine physician at Le Bonheur.
Some of the children injured in the I-240 shooting received multiple gunshot wounds.
A Memphis police report shows one child was shot five times in the abdomen, another was shot in the back, one was shot in both hands and a knee, and a fourth child was shot in the elbow and wrist.
“We do see patients who come in with multiple gunshot wounds. Those to the arms, legs, the abdomen, the trunk, the head, unfortunately, and there is a higher rate of mortality or death involved with those to the head than to the body,” said Dr. Watkins.
Last year alone, Le Bonheur ended 2023 with a record number of 180 total gunshot victims. Nine did not survive.
So far this year, Le Bonheur has already seen 79 children treated for gunshot wounds.
“Each year, really, since 2019 it’s been increasing, kind of an alarming trend year over year,” said Dr. Watkins
It is an alarming trend that is now affecting children, their families, the community, and the health experts at Le Bonheur who work to save the lives of young gunshot victims.
“From the medical staff standpoint, it does take a toll on us as well. I’d love to go to work and not have to take care of victims of gun violence,” said Dr. Watkins. “It does take a toll, but we’re here to serve the city and that’s our job, our duty, our responsibility.”
Watkins says Le Bonheur is partnering with various agencies and organizations in the community to find ways to decrease the rising trend of children becoming gunshot victims.
