1 dead, 10 injured in two Memphis shootings believed to be connected, police say. The killer is still at large
By Paradise Afshar and Holly Yan, CNN
Authorities are asking for the public’s help in finding whoever killed one person and injured 10 others in a pair of shootings that investigators believe are connected, the Memphis Police Department said.
Officers arrived at Live Lounge in Memphis at about 12:43 a.m. Sunday where two shooting victims were found and taken to a hospital in critical condition, police said.
Five more shooting victims were taken to area hospitals by private vehicle in non-critical condition, police said.
While at the Live Lounge scene, officers learned of more shooting victims nearby.
There, police found a deceased male victim and three more victims who were taken to a hospital in critical condition.
Five of the 10 people injured were released from the hospital by Sunday afternoon, the police department said in a statement on Twitter. “The five victims who were in non-critical condition have all been released from the hospital,” the statement said. “The five additional victims remain in critical condition.”
Police say they believe the two scenes are connected, with at least three persons of interest identified in the shootings.
One of them, Julius Freeman, turned himself in to police Sunday after he was identified as a person of interest, according to an affidavit provided to CNN by affiliate WMC Action News 5.
Freeman admitted in a statement that he took a male shooter to the scene in his vehicle and admitted to handing the shooter a rifle from the trunk of his car, according to the affidavit. Freeman also drove the male shooter away from the scene after the shooting, according to the document.
He faces charges of facilitation of second-degree murder, five counts of second-degree murder and five counts of possession of a firearm to commit at dangerous felony, the Memphis Police Department said in a post on Facebook.
Freeman remains in jail and a bond has not been set, according to MPD.
CNN has been unable to determine if Freeman has retained counsel.
It’s not clear what led up to the shootings, and it’s unclear whether the shooter or shooters knew the victims.
Anyone with information is asked to call CrimeStoppers of Memphis and Shelby County at 901-528-CASH (901-528-2274)
The US has suffered 82 mass shootings in less than two months, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The non-profit defines mass shootings as those in which four or more people were shot, not including the shooter.
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CNN’s Jennifer Henderson and Laura James contributed to this report.
