MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Memphis police are looking for three people who tried to carjack a woman and shot the good Samaritan who tried to stop them.
The shooting happened Monday night in the parking lot of the Enclave Apartments in Hickory Hill.
Police said the woman had just arrived at her apartment when was ambushed by robbers who were after her purse and her SUV. They said the woman’s next-door neighbor heard the commotion, came outside, and was hit.
Chris Ware, a neighbor who lives in another apartment building, said he was napping on his couch and heard a loud bang.
“It sounded like someone just banged the wall,” Ware said.
Ware said when he came outside, he saw police everywhere.
“I saw the guy who got shot, and he was an 18-year-old child, and he got shot, I think somewhere in the face,” said Ware.
Police said the suspects left in the woman’s 2019 Toyota CHR. They also took her purse that contained a $2,000 diamond ring.
Investigators recovered nearly a dozen shell casings at the scene. Ware said he didn’t realize that there was a bullet hole in the wall behind his TV and at least three bullet holes in his car until the next day.
“I realize the noise that we heard were bullets coming into the house in the TV stand,” said Ware.
Another neighbor who didn’t want to be identified also had a bullet hole in the side of her car.
“When I heard the shots, I kind of ran and ducked,” she said.
Police said the three carjackers were involved in another robbery earlier in the night at the Park Apartments.
Ware is thankful his wall stopped the bullet and no one else was hurt but said after the shooting, he’s ready to move.
“Oh, it’s time to go and my car,” said Ware. “It’s one thing you work hard for and the house you stay in. I’m going to try to move somewhere where you don’t feel like it’s a bad area.”
The man who was shot is expected to be okay.
Police recovered the victim’s SUV in the 1400 block of Briercrest Lane in Frayser but are still looking for the suspects.
If you know anything about the robberies, call CrimeStoppers at (901)-528-CASH.