MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A man has been charged in connection with an officer-involved shooting after a chase and a fight in North Memphis Tuesday night, confirms the Memphis Police Department.
The chaotic scene unfolding in a Nutbush neighborhood around dinner time.
That officer is relived of duty while the shooting is investigated.
“It sounded like it was right in my front yard.”
A few more feet and it would have been in Stacy Debose’s yard.
Tire marks appear to show where 31-year-old Jermey Pruitt bailed out of the backseat of a car Memphis Police tried to pull over around 6:15 p.m. off of Depass.
“I never saw this in real life. I heard about it, but I never saw it in real life,” Debose said.
Now Debose’s son, 13-year-old James Webb, is trying to process what he saw.
“I looked outside and there was police cars right there. I saw him running from police and police were chasing him. They said, ‘Get on the ground! Get on the ground!’ He didn’t listen and started to fight with the police, and they grabbed him.”
From there, officers say Pruitt ran a few blocks to another house where he went through an unlocked door and asked to use a phone because he had been in a fight.
He had been shot in the hand. Detectives used K-9’s to track him down.
It’s unclear if Pruitt shot the officer.
Police tell us a gun was found near the home where the suspect was found.
They say a gun magazine and marijuana were found where the initial fight took place, and another gun was found in the vehicle the suspect was riding in.
“About 15 to 20 police car came through here. They were circling around the neighborhood. It was a mess,” Debose said.
She says she usually feels safe on her street. But with two children, she is being extra careful.
“I’m more cautious about the traffic that’s coming through here.”
Pruitt is charged with aggravated assault, aggravated burglary, employing a firearm during commission of a dangerous felony, possession of a controlled substance and felony possession of a firearm.
