MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A suspect has been identified after he fired a shot into the Fox 13 television studio and barricaded inside a nearby restaurant Tuesday.
News Channel 3 drone footage captured 26-year-old Jarrad Nathan, the man authorities say shot into Fox 13, being wheeled away on a stretcher to a nearby hospital.
Parts of South Highland were shut down for hours as the suspect barricaded himself inside a bathroom in Ubee’s, forcing employees to evacuate.
“I was a little bit scared. I just didn’t want to get shot,” said Ubee’s employee Jermaine Morris.
The suspect’s father arrived at the scene and pleaded for him to come out. His parents told us he suffers from mental illness.
“Come on out that bathroom cause this not the way. We can do this a better way. I don’t want nothing to happen to you. Come on out that bathroom baby. You my only son,” his father said.
Memphis Police say the suspect tried to enter Fox 13 studios on South Highland a little before 11:20 a.m. When he wasn’t granted access to share his story, he fired a shot through the door with an AR-style weapon before going down the street and barricading himself inside Ubee’s.
He then went live on Facebook, stating repeatedly police would have to kill him if he couldn’t talk to the media. Eventually, crisis negotiators were able to get him out.
“Obviously, we want what’s best to help the young man that is in our custody and we’ll be working with them to get him the treatment that he needs.” 1:43
It’s help his mother and father said he’s desperate for after being shot several months ago.
“My son got shot about eight times about two months ago,” his father said.
“If this is the attention my son is drawing then his mama gone get him some help today,” said his mother Marsha McKinney.
With the scary situation unfolding in his district, State Rep. Torrey Harris said it’s important for mental health to be a priority.
“I hope that a significant amount of crisis intervention funding will go into budgets to make sure that we can continue to have community advocates out here working with individuals who are going through something,” Harris said. “Memphis did a good job today just making sure we could help somebody.”
Ubee’s released a statement Tuesday saying, “We are thankful today’s incident was resolved peacefully and that our staff was able to make it to safety.”
They are closed Tuesday night but will reopen Wednesday.
The suspect has been charged with aggravated assault and reckless endangerment.
