BARTLETT, Tenn. — A group of teenagers is allegedly going through cars in the same Bartlett neighborhood repeatedly, and the most recent incident ended in a shootout with a resident.
A Bartlett man awoke around midnight on Monday after he was alerted by his motion sensors, and saw three people going through his car. A neighbor heard the events unfold.
“It’s the same group of people, supposedly, that are coming over here and pulling on the handles of the car doors to see if the cars are open,” the neighbor said.
The first man confronted the people, and that’s when the neighbor heard gunshots. The group ran from Coachouse Cove, as seen on surveillance footage.
One of the suspects fled to Craigmont Drive. Police said another man saw the suspect and tried to stop him, but the suspect opened fire.
The man then shot back in self-defense, and the suspect fell down but ended up getting away.
Neighbors say the teens come into this Bartlett neighborhood often, checking car doors… looking to get their hands on whatever they can. This is video of them doing just that before gunshots rang out. pic.twitter.com/AzX3lPnRI2
— Kristen Holloway (@KHollowayWSB) December 13, 2018
Police said the teens in the group are aged 13-18, and they are looking for narcotics.
A mother of two said she has been living in the area for six months, and the group has repeatedly targeted the neighborhood.
“When I first moved in, my car got keyed,” she said. “They’ve come through my gate four times and have stolen stuff over the summer.”
WREG received surveillance footage of two men going through a work truck in the same neighborhood in July.
“I moved from Cordova to Bartlett thinking Bartlett is going to be a lot better, safer, and when I woke up, it was just like, ‘whoa, that was close,'” the woman said.
The suspects are still on the run. Anyone with information regarding their whereabouts should contact Bartlett Police.
