MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A young man was injured in a shooting Tuesday afternoon after a U.S. Marshals task force tried to arrest a person they thought was a murder suspect, TBI said.
However, TBI said, he was not the murder suspect the marshals were after.
The shooting happened around 3 p.m. at a gas station on Elvis Presley Boulevard near Alcy Road. The perimeter of the gas station was ringed with crime scene tape and streets were blocked in the area.
The U.S. Marshals Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force was attempting to arrest a person who they thought was a suspect wanted for first-degree murder and possession of a weapon, the Marshal’s Service said in a statement.
TBI said in a statement that the marshals spotted a vehicle connected to the suspect at the gas station, and surrounded the vehicle.
The driver, who was later found to be driving a vehicle TBI said had been reported as stolen, tried to get away by repeatedly backing up and ramming several vehicles belonging to officers and at least one civilian, TBI said.
TBI said a marshal then fired a shot, which struck the driver. He jumped out of his vehicle and ran to a wooded area across the street, where he was captured.
The person was taken to a hospital with injuries the agency described as not life-threatening. No officers were injured.
A source said the suspect is believed to be 16 or 17 years old. Authorities did not immediately confirm the person’s age, but he was later identified as a teenager.
The names of the officers involved were not released by federal authorities. The name of the suspect also was not released.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is looking into the incident, and U.S. Marshals Service said that agency will conduct an internal review after the T.B.I. completes its investigation.
(Note: Earlier versions of this story referred to the person shot as a man who was wanted on murder charges, based on information from authorities. The story has been updated to reflect new information on that person’s identity.)
