Memphis police: Teen, 22-year-old were killed in Saturday's Orange Mound mass shooting
The two people who were killed during a mass shooting at an Orange Mound block party Saturday evening were 17 and 22 years old, the Memphis Police Department said Monday.
The shooting also left seven additional people injured, with ages ranging from 16 to 29 years old. The majority of the victims were men, with only three being women.
MPD initially listed 16 victims, including the two dead, but later corrected that number to 8 total victims. A ninth victim was located on Sunday, the department said.
Police responded to the shooting at 7:19 p.m. Saturday, saying there were between 200 and 300 people at the block party. MPD interim Chief Cerelyn "C.J." Davis said the party was hosted without a permit.
MPD is urging anyone with information, and video, from the shooting to reach out to CrimeStoppers at 901-528-2274. CrimeStoppers is an anonymous tip line that sometimes offers rewards for information that can lead to arrests.
Monday morning, MPD said the reward for information that leads to an arrest had been raised to $15,000.
What do we know about the Orange Mound mass shooting?
Video posted to social media, which people have said showed the moments leading up to the shooting, showed a car doing donuts on what appeared to be a basketball court. About halfway through the video, multiple gunshots could be heard as attendees started to run and lay on the ground.
In the wake of the shooting, Memphis-Shelby County Schools posted a statement to social media, saying more effort needs to be placed in protecting young Memphians.
"For the second time in too few days, we are grappling with the loss of life due to violence," MSCS said in the post. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the Orange Mound community as we continue to figure out how best to protect our youngest citizens."
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Memphis Mayor Paul Young, who was at Orange Mound Park when Davis spoke Saturday night, called for an end to gun violence — and collaboration in doing so — in a post to X, formerly known as Twitter, Sunday morning.
"This morning, we are one community united by grief," Young said in the statement. "We are all Orange Mound this morning. There are no words that can adequately express the pain we are all feeling over this most recent act of senseless violence — where guns were brazenly brought to a park filled with young people, families and children. And there are no words to describe the frustration of having to use the qualifier 'most recent' when speaking of the violence in our community. This must stop. The violence must end. For the future of our city, we have to solve the problem together."
Lucas Finton is a criminal justice reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com, or (901)208-3922, and followed on X, formerly known as Twitter, @LucasFinton.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: MPD: Teen, 22-year-old killed in Memphis Orange Mound mass shooting
