UPDATE, 11:30 A.M. Monday: Robert Smith, the father of 11-year-old Broderick Smith told WREG that his son is now listed in stable condition and is expected to make a full recovery.
UPDATE, 3 p.m. Friday: Police have an 18-year-old in custody for this shooting. See more here.
UPDATE: A family has identified one of the boys injured in the shooting as 11-year-old Broderick Smith. He is currently in the ICU but is expected to make a full recovery.
His father Robert Smith said he feared for the worst when his son didn’t answer.
“I went down the library and I was praying for all the children, but basically hoping it wasn’t mine but when I seen the officers and stuff they told me to come to Le Bonheur then I knew,” he said.
Smith said Broderick has already undergone surgery and is still in ICU. A bullet struck Broderick in the stomach.
“It went right through him to his liver,” Smith said. “At any given time he should be going into surgery again, so they can try to close the hole.”
Smith describes his son, who is a 6th grader at A. Maceo Walker Middle School, as bright. He said his son goes to the library to wait for his younger siblings after school. Smith is pleading for the city to put down the guns.
“My son likes to learn,” he said. “Put these guns down, put these guns down. These are children give them a chance,” he said.
Smith says adults should never get involved in child fights.
“If I ever see kids out there fighting, I’m stopping it. Trying to find out where they parents at what’s going on, it’s not your job to go out there shooting at kids,” he said.
He’s sending this message to the shooter:
“I hope you see my face and hear these words…you are a coward and you won’t get away with this trust me,” Smith said.
We have reached out for an update on the condition of the other victims.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A day after three boys were shot and injured at the Whitehaven library, Memphis Police have more details on what led to the chaos.
According to reports from MPD, a security guard at the library at Millbranch and Raines first called police at 2:22 to report a group of girls were fighting.
According to a witness, after the fight was over, one of the girls involved called her brother to the scene.
At 3 p.m., police received another call from a citizen reporting that two juveniles had been shot at the library. When police arrived they found the two boys with gunshot wounds, and were told that a third injured boy had been taken to a hospital by car.
One victim was listed in extremely critical condition, according to police. Officers told WREG on Thursday that two of the victims were 11-year-old boys.
A witness who had come to pick up her daughter from the library told police that she saw a small SUV driving east on Raines Road. She said a woman was driving as a man hung out of the rear passenger window and fired five or six shots.
A boy on Thursday also told WREG he had been shot at by a man hanging out of a vehicle.
Police said the shooting happened during a fight at a nearby middle school, where a girl told police she was jumped by a group of girls.
They said a suspect was known but not in custody.
Whitehaven Library is feet away from two Memphis-Shelby County Schools and has become a hangout for students. Following the shooting, the district says they enhanced safety and security measures in the surrounding area.
This shooting came just over two weeks after Former Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong conducted a safety and security assessment of the district. While they did not release the findings of his report, the district says they are considering making changes.
WREG is working on this story and will have new updates.
