(Memphis) A man is still in critical condition after being shot by a Memphis police officer.
The shooting happened early Saturday morning in Hickory Hill, where officers responded to an alarm call only to find, they say, a man with a shotgun.
An Officer says he shot the man when he didn’t respond to commands.
Police say he also pointed his shotgun at the officers.
It’s wake-up call no one wants.
“It was three in the morning. I had just dozed-off to sleep and she was like ‘mamma, somebody is shooting out there’ and I got up and all I saw was police lights everywhere,” said Michelle Edingbourg.
The shooting happened at the apartment complex called The Crossings at Fox Meadows.
Officers responded to an alarm call and say when they entered the apartment on Wedge Cove, they heard noises coming from the back.
The sounds turned out to be a man who, police say, wouldn’t put down his gun.
According to police, the man pointed his gun at the officers and that’s when one of those officers fired his gun, hitting the man once.
“It’s crazy,” said Edingbourg. “It’s right by my house.”
Police say the man didn’t die, or fall to the ground, but ran away from the scene, showing up later at Baptist Desoto Hospital in Southaven.
In critical condition, he had to be airlifted to The MED.
“It’s just out of control. The violence,” said Chanel Smith, who lives a few doors down from where the shooting happened.
After several officer-involved shootings this year, some are pointing the finger at police, but not the people we talked to at the Hickory Hill complex.
“They are trained to protect us,” said Smith.
“If you point your gun at officers, yeah the officers are going to shoot you because my husband, he’s a police officer… I mean you got to defend yourself,” said Edingbourg.
The Memphis police officer has been relieved of duty with pay, which is standard protocol after a shooting like this until the investigation is complete.
His name hasn’t been released and neither has the name of the man shot.
He hasn’t yet been charged with a crime.
