SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. — A 61-year-old man was shot dead in Cordova on May 15, but it was notes he wrote down in an act of swift thinking during the attack that helped investigators track down a suspect.
County authorities arrested 24-year-old Bryant Ward two days later in Olive Branch, Mississippi, and charged him with the shooting death of Bryan Hervey in Cordova.
Police responded to the 1200 block of Linnean Cove on May 15 and located Hervey deceased from multiple gun shot wounds. Investigators said they located the victim’s vehicle on the scene. It had multiple bullet holes in the side, the glass was shattered, and there was blood visible inside the vehicle.
Surveillance video from the scene showed that the victim ran from that car to a nearby home where he banged on the door screaming for help. That’s when gunshots were heard in the background and the victim fell down in the yard with a piece of paper in his hand. More gunshots were heard as the victim was on the ground.
Before he died, authorities said the victim was able to write down the license plate of the car that was being driven by his attacker.
That car was registered to a woman who later told police that it all began after the victim made eye contact with Ward, setting him off. She said she drove after the victim, but Ward was the one who leaned out of the car window and fired shots at the man.
Ward then jumped out of the vehicle and continued to shoot Hervey on Linnean Cove, she said.
It’s unclear if the woman will be facing any charges.