East Memphis crime spree ends with crash in North Memphis

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A man is behind bars and facing several charges after a shootout in East Memphis ended with a crash in North Memphis.

Tyshaun Wear is now facing 35 charges, ranging from attempted first-degree murder to theft of property, burglary of a vehicle, and more.

Memphis Police initially responded to a shooting on the 5100 block of Park Avenue shortly after noon Saturday in East Memphis. Officers were advised that a shooting occurred, but the suspect vehicles fled the scene.

Michael Swink, who works at the nearby Mellow Mushroom, said he heard the gunshots.

“Everybody could hear it and when that happened we saw customers flooding in the door and we looked out the car pulling out had been shot,” Swink said. “They pulled off and when they pulled around you could see the passenger side. Twenty bullet holes in both cars just like the windows were busted out on the passenger side. There were bullet holes up and down both of the cars.”

Police reached out to local hospitals to see if any shooting victims had arrived that day. MPD found out that two people were recently admitted to St. Francis Hospital for gunshot wounds.

One of the victims was shot in the right shoulder, and another victim was shot in the right thigh. Both of them were listed as non-critical. A third person was shot at, but they were not harmed.

Police said one of the victims told them that he was attempting to find his stolen vehicle, a black Infiniti Q50 sedan, and they found it in the Eastgate Shopping Center parking lot. When they tried to approach the vehicle, police said that is when Wear began firing shots.

Police said the Infiniti fled south and continued firing shots as they left. That is when the victims were struck and so was the nearby Pep Boys storefront. The suspected vehicle then fled north on Poplar.

Three vehicles were struck by gunfire in the parking lot of a restaurant on the 5100 block. Two vehicles had windows or windshields hit by gunfire, and another vehicle had body damage.

Police later observed the same vehicle on Vollintine and Ayers in North Memphis. Officers attempted to stop the car by activating lights and sirens, but they did not stop. MPD said the Infiniti disregarded the police and began driving recklessly into oncoming traffic to avoid officers.

While driving at a high rate of speed, MPD said the Infiniti struck a fence and kept going, leaving the scene of the accident. Police pursued the car until a foot chase ensued. Wear eventually was taken into custody afterward.

“To have these hoodlums go about our city doing these kind of things, one thing speaks to me and, I’ve said so many times before, we need more police,” said Memphis City Councilman Frank Colvett. “We need to give police what they need to do the job, but we need to have the other players in the judicial system do their job or people are going to leave Memphis.”

Police said they checked Wear’s information and found he did not have a valid driver’s license or proof of insurance. MPD said the vehicle Wear was driving had been reported stolen on March 25 with a value of $20,000.

In addition, MPD identified Wear as a suspect in several auto break-ins at the same shopping center. On March 25, MPD responded to three separate vehicle break-ins.

Tyshaun Wear has been charged with 3 counts of attempted first-degree murder, 6 counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, 1 count of aggravated assault, 13 counts of vandalism, 1 count of theft of property $10,000-$60,000, 1 count of criminal attempted burglary of a vehicle, 1 count of intentionally evading arrest in an auto, 1 count of evading arrest, 1 count of reckless driving, 1 count of violation of financial law, 1 count of failure to exercise due care, 1 count of no driver’s license, 1 count of duty upon striking a highway fixture.

Wear is still in custody and his next court date has been set for Monday, March 27. His bond is set at $150,000.