(Memphis) Some are calling for tougher gun laws after ten people were shot in Memphis in the early morning hours of Mother’s Day.
“Right now if a guy gets caught with a gun, it’s just like getting a traffic ticket,” said Delvin Lane, the leader of 901 Bloc Squad. “We got to make it a little tougher than that.”
Two people are in critical condition from two separate shootings in Midtown and Hyde Park in North Memphis.
The first shooting injured three people and in the second incident, seven people were shot.
Police say the man who shot three people at a party hall on Jefferson turned himself in right after the shooting.
The violence that happened in North Memphis has left police without suspects.
“We were on the porch when it happened. It was down there,” said Shawn Quez Clark, a 17-year-old who witnessed the shootings on Shasta.
No teenager should have to see this type of violence.
“It sounded like Iraq,” said Clark.
“I was so scared. I ran and I was under the bed,” said Clark’s 19-year-old friend.
For these north Memphis teens, gun shots are a way of life.
The 19-year-old, who didn’t want to give his name, is recovering himself from a gunshot wound.
“I was in the crossfire,” he said.
At 2:15 a.m., the teens said they saw men with what they described as ‘assault’ rifles coming out of the bushes next to their house on Sashta.
They told us the men started shooting at other men outside the 108 Club.
In the end, seven people were shot. One is in critical condition.
“What do you think about the fact that people in Memphis are just shooting each other?” asked Reporter Sabrina Hall.
“I don’t know. It’s crazy. I am ready to move out of town,” said the 19-year-old.
“We used to fight it out. Fight with your friend, dust it off and go get a popsicle together. Now if you fight, you might die,” said Lane.
Lane of the 901 Bloc Squad is working with the mayor of Memphis to reduce gun violence.
He is a former gang member who has since found a better way of life, and now responds to shootings to try and talk peace into both sides, “We just want to love on the guys and see what is going on and ask them, ‘When will it stop? If you shoot again, and someone else shoots again, it’s never going to stop until everybody is dead.”
“There were folks coming from those bushes right there with guns. They were reloading and everything. The police came so late,” said Clark.
Police have made no arrests and the 19-year-old said no one has been arrested in the shooting that injured his arm almost three weeks ago.
“It was very painful,” he said.
“You got shot how many times?” asked Hall.
“One time with a shot gun,” he said.
The teens told us they want to see more police officers patrolling their Hyde Park neighborhood. Lane wants to see more hope in our young people, and less guns on our streets.
“They don’t think tomorrow exists,” said Lane.
Lane said he doesn’t know where young people are getting their guns.
He belives tougher penalties for having illegal guns would help young people think twice about carrying them.
As for the shooting at De-Nhat Bida & Cafe on Jefferson where three people were injured, police say Hiep Pham turned himself in after the shooting, saying he shot at four people who were chasing him.
He hit three of them with bullets, leaving one in critical condition.
He’s charged with four counts of aggravated assault.
