MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Memphis man was arrested after police say he shot up his own vehicle at a Parkway Village gas station, trying to stop teenage thieves from taking it.
Kenneth Petty went from being the victim to finding himself under arrest and charged with attempted second-degree murder, possession of a firearm in commission of a felony and tampering with evidence.
Police say the whole incident began just after midnight Tuesday, when Petty made a stop at a gas station at South Perkins and Cottonwood.
He left his 2018 Chevrolet Trax running while he went inside, police said.
Petty told police he saw someone getting into his Chevy, so he pulled out a 9mm pistol and began firing at the person who was getting inside.
A worker at the store told WREG a teenage girl jumped behind the wheel of the running vehicle, and a teenage boy began returning fire.
Police found 19 spent shell casings at the scene. Petty told them he gave the gun to a friend to get rid of it.
The vehicle was found three miles away at Knight Arnold and Ridgeway, with bullet holes in the windshield. The store’s windows also were shattered.
Later that morning, police located the teen girl at her grandmother’s house in South Memphis. They said she had gunshot wounds to her back, ear and shoulder from the shooting and was taken to LeBonheur Children’s Hospital.
The girl’s mother identified her own daughter as the person seen in a surveillance video from the gas station wearing an orange wig.
Instead of being arrested, the young girl was issued a juvenile summons.
Petty was taken to 201 Poplar and admitted his guilt, police said.
We are still working to determine if the second juvenile was captured.