A live-streaming gunman who rampaged across Memphis, shooting several people and putting the city into lockdown, was arrested Wednesday night after several nerve-racking hours on the lam.
Police confirmed Ezekiel Kelly, 19, was in custody after a frenzied hunt to catch him before he killed again, and a shelter in place order was lifted.
In a press conference on Thursday morning, Memphis authorities revealed the “senseless and terrible acts of violence” committed by Kelly, who began his rampage in the early hours of Wednesday night at 12:56 a.m, leading police on a “relentless pursuit.”
ADVERTISEMENT
In the first shooting, an unidentified male was shot to death in his driveway on Glensdale Avenue. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
For the next 20 hours, Kelly rampaged through at least eight crime scenes, killing at least four people and wounding at least another three, swapping vehicles, carjacking and shooting those who got in the way.
Kelly began shooting again at 4:38 p.m., when officers located a male victim in his vehicle with multiple gunshot wounds. Police said CCTV footage showed Kelly pulling up next to a man in a gray sedan, firing multiple shots at him, then fleeing south.
Then, at 4:40 p.m., officers responded to another shooting; a female victim with a gunshot wound to the leg, non-critical. Kelly fled in a dark-colored sedan.
It was then, at approximately 6 p.m., that Kelly turned on Facebook Live when he opened fire inside an Auto Zone store. Officers located a male with a gunshot wound, and he was transported to hospital in critical condition.
At 6:12 p.m., Kelly continued his rant on Facebook Live threatening to cause harm to citizens.
At 7:23 p.m., officers responded to another shooting in North Evergreen; a female had been shot and her car, a gray SUV, had been stolen.
At 7:24 p.m., officers responded to another shooting; a male had been shot and was transported to the hospital, non-critical.
At 8:55 p.m., officers located another female victim with gunshot wounds and pronounced her deceased at the scene.
At 8:56 p.m., Southaven Police responded to another report of a carjacking on Highway 51, where they said Kelly stole a gray Dodge Challenger and left behind the gray SUV. The victim was uninjured at this scene.
It was just before 9 p.m., at 8:58, when police caught up with Kelly and a high-speed pursuit began. Kelly was taken into custody “without incident,” police said, confirming that two weapons were discovered inside the vehicle.
The homicide division is actively working the crime scene and numerous felony charges are pending, police said.
The arrest ended a terrifying episode that saw the University of Memphis lock its gates, public transit suspend service, and the minor league Memphis Redbirds halt its game.
“ALERT!! ARMED AND DANGEROUS” police said in their initial tweet about the emergency.
“Shelter in place,” Memphis Police Maj. Karen Rudolph urged city residents.
Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr. said “many families were shattered tonight” and sent his condolences to the families affected.
Police initially did not say how exactly many shootings they believed Kelly, 19, had carried out Wednesday or where they took place, but he reportedly claimed responsibility for five.
In a video clip circulating online that appeared to show the suspect, he exits a car ranting, says, “This shit for real” and then walks into an Auto Zone store and shoots a man without warning.
A first-degree murder warrant was filed against Kelly on Wednesday night, with more charges expected.
Court records show that Kelly was indicted in 2020 on charged of attempted murder, weapons possession, and reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, and sentenced to three years in prison.
Authorities confirmed Kelly had been charged with criminal attempted first degree murder but plead guilty in April 2021 with a lesser charge of aggravated assault. He was sentenced to three years’ jail time but only served 11 months in prison and was released March 16, less than six months ago.
The photo of Kelly put out by police matches profile pictures on a Facebook page with the handle Zeek Huncho that is filled with pictures of him and other young men showing off wads of cash and guns.
One post on that page, from Aug. 18 and addressed to his mother, reads: “I swear wont GO witout a fight I promise.”
In his Facebook stories in the hours leading up to the shootings, he reposted a string of prior posts, including one from 2019 that read: “My home boys turning into bitches, my home girls should carry my casket.”
Another repost, from January 2020, read: “I might pray and go commit a sin and then go pray again!!”
At the press conference early Thursday morning, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said: “I am angry, I am angry for them, and I’m angry for our citizens who had to shelter in place for their own safety until this suspect was caught. This is no way for us to live. And it is not acceptable. The people of our city were confronted with the type of violence no one should have to face.”
The shooting spree capped a particularly violent stretch for Memphis, where teacher Eliza Fletcher was kidnapped and killed and where a police officer was shot on patrol last week.
“Living in Memphis is like living in every episode of Breaking Bad,” resident Mary Dudley told the Commercial Appeal.
