MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A woman was sent to the hospital and several lives were put at risk when shots were fired on Interstate 240 Tuesday night.
The driver of a RAV4 was headed home from downtown with his wife and two other people when the shots rang out. They were near the Millbranch exit.
The driver told police he heard a loud pop. After pulling over, he saw a bullet had pierced his car and jammed into a seat, which injured one of his passengers. She’s expected to be okay.
Police shut down the interstate from about 9:15 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. to canvass for clues. No evidence was found.
At this point, it’s unclear what led to the gunfire or where it came from.
While no one in the car that was shot at wanted to talk to WREG, other drivers had plenty to say.
“It’s really scary, being a mother of three. I can’t understand why,” said driver Regina Crossland.
This isn’t the first shooting on the interstate or on a busy road in Memphis. The most recent shooting happened on Poplar and White Station. Police say a woman was shot twice when she got caught in a shootout between people in two cars.
Two people were later arrested.
“How are we going to get this under control? What’s going to happen to make this change?” Crossland asked.
Memphis Police spokesman Louis Brownlee said police are putting additional resources into areas that have seen a spike in violence, and that includes the interstates.
However, he said police often run into a problem: People who know each other are responsible for many of the assaults and homicides. In fact, 88 percent of the solved murder cases this year have involved acquaintances, he said.
“The public can assist us by passing along any information that they have relative to any of the recent crimes,” Brownlee said. “Someone knows who these shooters are and we need the community’s help to bring them to justice.”
In the past, they’ve asked other agencies like the Tennessee Highway Patrol to help out more than their regular patrols. However, THP officials told WREG they’re unaware of Memphis Police reaching out again.
Police haven’t released any information about the shooter in Tuesday’s incident.
If you know anything, you can call Crime Stoppers at (901)-528-CASH.