MEMPHIS, Tenn. — WREG visited the building where the Wednesday mass shooting occurred in Hickory Hill.
WREG investigators had recently been in the building as they shined light on a nonprofit and its work taking place there to stop gun violence and get young men on the right path.
We are digging deeper into the shooting that left one man dead and five more injured. Memphis Police said they had no new information about their conditions or arrests.
“Investigators are combing over evidence and trying to uncover everything they can,” MPD Lt. Louis Brownlee stated.
WREG Investigators did a story on the people who work in the very building in August.
Twin brothers Brandon and Bryan Mathis and their organization called TWINS partnered with Memphis Allies’ SWITCH team.
It’s an intervention program under Youth Villages that brings community programs and resources together to curb gun violence.
“My hopeful thinking is that we’ll continue to put a dent into the gun violence that we are suffering here in Memphis,” Bryan Mathis said.
In one of the meetings, the brothers and life coaches went over recent crimes, those involved, and ways they can intervene to stop any retaliatory violence from happening.
WREG learned it can be strenuous, emotional work. One of the first men they ever helped was shot and killed. They helped with his funeral.
“He feels like he doesn’t have long,” one of the life coaches said at the table. “That’s where I have to hit home and give him something to live for instead of waiting for what he thinks the inevitable is.”
From there, they continue to reach out to the young men most at risk and build trust. They help connect them to things like a stable job, a budgeting course, or help getting a birth certificate or ID.
The twin brothers told us they were once on the wrong path. They joined a gang at 10 years old and were involved in a shootout at 16. They found a better life and know others can too.
“I got shot at the time they say with one of the most dangerous bullets. It was a .22, and it was traveling around,” Bryan Mathis said. “I just remember thinking my life was over if I do not begin to make a change.”
Top health officials and local politicians have applauded their work. It’s one of several group violence intervention programs in the city.
The others showed up to the crime scene Wednesday to check in and made it clear this is why this building and others stationed in the city try to be under the radar. It’s like an emergency shelter. It’s there to protect those trying to get out of a bad situation.
“We understand there is a level of danger that comes with this job,” said K Durell Cowan, Founder and CEO of Heal 901.
The family identified the man killed as Matthew Williams, a 22-year-old who was trying to make a positive change in his life.
Memphis Allies didn’t have anything more to say Wednesday other than the statement they issued after the shooting.
It stated in part that their hearts go out to his “family and to the staff members who had been working with the young man,” and this incident “will not shake our resolve to continue working with community leaders and partner organizations.”
For more information about the program and the neighborhoods they are working in, click this link. If you want to help their efforts, click here.