MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Police say a woman who was trying to stop a man from beating his ex-wife downtown was shot point blank by the assailant.

The victim, who was walking her dogs near Union and Wagner Place Friday afternoon, told officers she saw a man punching a woman and knock her to the ground. The 33-year-old said she was armed with pepper spray and planned to use it right before she was shot.

The 58-year-old woman who was allegedly being attacked told police she came down to the river to sit with her ex-husband, but her ex-husband became angry because she was being too quiet.

She said he motioned for her to get back in the car, and when she refused, he pulled out a gun. She said he put the gun away and began hitting her.

The ex-wife said the woman with the dogs approached them and told her ex-husband to stop and that’s when she saw her ex-husband point his gun at the witness and shoot her.

The ex-wife told investigators that after he fired the gun, he stole her car and tried to hit her with the vehicle. She was not seriously hurt.

A Collierville woman who witnessed part of what happened said the woman who was shot was relatively calm and seemed more concerned about her two small dogs.

“We just assured her dogs were going to be fine,” she said. 

The woman was treated at the Regional One Medical Center and released the same day.

Police say the suspect left in a 2019 dark gray KIA Forte.

If you have any information that can help investigators, you are urged to call CrimeStoppers at 901-528-CASH.