MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Police say a convicted killer is back behind bars, accused of shooting at a construction crew renovating a house in southeast Memphis.
It happened Wednesday night in the 5100 block of Flanders Avenue. The street is just off Winchester, behind Greater Community Temple COGIC.
Police said three men working on the house heard what they thought was a gunshot, went to the side door along the driveway, and saw man in a white t-shirt pointing a gun at them.
The victims said they all ducked for cover when the man fired at least three shots at them.
Investigators said the victims identified the shooter as Clarence Abernathy, 36, who was still on the scene.
Officers said they found a handgun in the house next door that matched several shell casings they found on the ground.
Abernathy told officers he didn’t know anything about the shooting and had just arrived at his sister’s house on Flanders.
A man at the home Thursday said he didn’t know Abernathy, but his sister lived at the house.
Police have not released a motive for the shooting but say Abernathy was sentenced to 13 and a half years in prison after he pled guilty to facilitation of first-degree murder and aggravated robbery. Abernathy was only 17 at the time of the crime.
Court records show Abernathy was arrested for aggravated robbery in 2015, but the case was dismissed.
This time he is charged with three counts of attempted second-degree murder, three counts of a convicted felon in possession of a handgun, employing a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony, and altering the serial numbers on a gun.