MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Police are investigating a shooting that led to a crash Thursday afternoon in Fox Meadows.
It happened around 2 p.m. next to a self-serve ice dispensary near Knight Arnold and Hickory Hill Road.
Police say the shooting caused a driver to lose control of their SUV and flip, but investigators don’t know who pulled the trigger or why. They also say whoever was driving the vehicle got out and took off on foot before officers arrived.
Jimmy Bond believes he must have a guardian angel, because he would have been in the vehicle’s destructive path had he shown up to buy ice a couple hours earlier.
“I do believe that God has shield me now,” Bond said, “It would have definitely freaked me out because I would have to try to get out of the way before it get me, you know?”
Stevie Moore runs an anti-gun violence organization called Freedom From Unnecessary Negatives. He’s frustrated because what happened Thursday perfectly illustrates a bigger problem in Memphis.
The Crime Commission reports a 23% increase in gun crime in Memphis over the first half of this year as compared to 2019.
“What are we doing?!” Moore said.
That’s a question he puts to absent fathers.
“Where the men at?” Moore said, “I don’t care if you Black. I don’t care if you White, Chinese or Mexican, your kid is vulnerable when we got knuckleheads running through our community shooting guns!”
Moore’s so passionate about the cause he recently started an anonymous tip line where people can report suspicious activity that he can then relay to police.
“This is a prevent line,” Moore said, “You know Little Nat and Boo Boo and all this standing on the corner got guns, but you won’t say nothing until it comes to your window. They shoot your child. Then you wanna say somebody know something.”
Moore believes people might be more comfortable calling his line than calling police directly. He hopes his tip line can be a bridge between police and the communities they serve.
