WHITEHAVEN, Tenn. — Police said they are looking for whoever shot at a Memphis police squad car Tuesday morning in Whitehaven.
No one was hurt, but you may recognize where this crime happened.
Memphis Police has responded to dozens of calls at Pepper Tree Apartments over the years.
The District Attorney almost declared it a public nuisance more than 5-years ago, but the complex owners promised to make changes.
WREG went to Pepper Tree Tuesday afternoon and uncovered even more problems and residents who said they do not feel safe.
“If you stay here, get the f*** away from here,” tenant Whitney Carpenter said.
Carpenter was furious because she said Pepper Tree Apartments told her she and her infant son have three days to get out.
They told her she was loitering by standing outside her own apartment.
However, her friend said wasn’t the truth.
“It all came from us talking to you,” she told a News Channel 3 crew.
Carpenter spoke briefly with WREG off camera earlier in the day.
She was one of several people who said they do not feel safe there, especially after a police car was shot.
“I have a grandbaby that’s 7-months-old,” Shirley Carpenter said. “We had to hit the floor because I’m not just hearing hand gun shots. I’m hearing rifle shots.”
Tenants said the security guards at the complex are part of the problem and said they are more intimidating than helpful.
“You’re sitting here holding your gun talking to me with my son in my hands,” Carpenter said of one guard who approached her. “You’re threatening me!”
That was something WREG’s crew witnessed first hand.
When they tried to go to the leasing office for answers, staff locked the door and security guards threatened to handcuff them.
Earlier in the day, WREG talked to Chief Nuisance Prosecutor Paul Hagerman with the District Attorney’s office.
He said declaring a complex a public nuisance is always a last resort.
“A judge could order it to be closed. With a large apartment complex, you may be talking about 800, 1,000 people basically out on the streets,” he said.
However, after the shooting Tuesday morning, he said it is obvious something must be done.
“You can’t ignore it,” he said. “It’s absolutely something we have to look into.”
WREG also called Tesco Properties, which owns Pepper Tree Apartments but have not heard back.
Tesco Properties was not accredited through the Better Business Bureau.
