MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis police say a 2-year-old is dead after a shooting in Hickory Hill early Tuesday morning.
“Just a lot of gunshots, commotion, pow, pow, pow, stuff like that.”
That’s what woke neighbors at the Enclave Apartment Complex around 2 a.m.
“It was really loud. It wasn’t a regular gun; it was something bigger,” said neighbor Yuri Silver.
Some neighbors said they heard 15 shots and saw four to five cars speed away. In the middle of it, a 2-year-old inside a first-floor apartment was shot and killed.
“That’s a scary situation,” said another neighbor.
Police say this is the second child under the age of 10 shot and killed this year in Memphis.
Last year, a total of six children under the age of ten were killed by guns. Two of those cases remain unsolved.
One is 10-year-old Richard Jordan’s case. He was killed in a drive-by shooting last year.
Laylah Washington’s killer also hasn’t been found. The two-year-old was shot in a road rage incident last year.
“As a mother and as a Memphian, it breaks my heart anytime anyone dies as a result of gun violence and particularly children,” said Kathryn McRitchie with Moms Demand Action.
McRitchie said they’re pushing for stricter background checks, a change in gun policy and for the community to have a deeper discussion involving gun violence.
“I think it’s time we come together and identify ways to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people,” she said.
Which includes children, as Memphis has experienced a handful of accidental shootings at the hands of kids in recent years.
Moms Demand Action are holding a gun violence vigil on December 13th at 5:15 p.m. It’ll be at the First Congo Church on Cooper Street.
Memphis police haven’t released any additional information about the circumstances surrounding Tuesday morning’s shooting.
If you have any information about this shooting or any of the others…you’re encouraged to call Crime Stoppers at 528-Cash.
