Four people died and three were injured after a 19-year-old man opened fire at several locations in Memphis, Tennessee, local police said at a press conference on Thursday.
Memphis Police Chief CJ Davis said Ezekiel Kelly was arrested Wednesday after shooting civilians as he drove through the city, occasionally getting out of the vehicle to open fire — he stopped at at least eight locations. Kelly posted at least one of the shootings on Facebook.
Earlier, the police had warned the public to stay indoors until he was arrested. “We are receiving reports that he is recording his actions,” police said at the time.
A brief video posted to Facebook showed the youth stating “this is real” and using coarse language as he opened a store door and shot twice at the first person who appeared. Reuters was unable to verify the authenticity of the video.
The new shootings come amid a string of similar episodes in the United States in recent months. The Gun Violence Archive organization reported in June nearly 240 mass shootings since the beginning of this year. The number of deaths caused by firearms, between homicides and suicides, exceeded 18,500.
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