Before going on a shooting rampage that culminated with him being apprehended by police in Memphis, Tennessee, the mad shooter shot his companion many times in the head.
19-year-old Ezekiel Kelly allegedly tormented the city for more than 19 hours, murdering four people and injured three more while live-streaming the events on Facebook. Kelly is accused of starting his claimed rampage shortly before 1am.
Police have identified the adolescent as a violent offender with ties to eight separate instances, and at approximately 7 p.m. on Wednesday, they issued a social media warning to the public advising them to avoid the teen.
Dewayne Tunstall, 24, who was apparently a friend of Kelly’s, was shot and killed in his driveway on Glendale Avenue at roughly 12:56 in the morning, according to estimates.
Kelly and Tunstall were visiting friends when Tunstall took him aside, pulled out a black revolver, and shot him many times in the head.
Kelly was sentenced to three years in prison in 2021 but was freed early after pleading guilty to aggravated assault despite having previously been charged with attempted murder.
Police characterised him as “armed and dangerous,” and Police Chief Cerelyn Davis said it had been a “horrific week” for the community.
After the first gunshot, he continued firing at random for many hours, prompting residents to seek refuge in their houses.
He then opened fire on a guy several times while he was sitting in his vehicle on South Parkway East at about 4.38 p.m., and two minutes later he shot a lady close to Norris Road and Interstate 240.
She was transferred to a hospital where she is still being treated for a stable condition after being shot in the leg.
Just before six o’clock in the evening, crazed Kelly opened fire at an AutoZone location on Jackson Avenue, where he began to live-stream the tragedy on Facebook.
The video shows Kelly stepping out of his vehicle, entering the business, and drawing a revolver to fire twice at a customer. He continues to be in a critical state in the hospital.
After claiming “this s*** for real” on the livestream, the adolescent then yells to the camera about “no faking,” with viewers reporting the tape to authorities.
Officers then issued a warning on Kelly and his vehicle, but soon after he attempted to transfer cars by carjacking a lady near Poplar Avenue and Evergreen Street and shooting her.
At 7:23 p.m., the lady was shot dead, and Kelly fled in her grey Toyota SUV. A minute later, police discovered a second guy with gunshot wounds. He was rushed to the hospital and is doing well.
Around 8.55 p.m. on West Raines Road, Kelly shot Corteria Wright, 17, in the back; she is believed to be his last victim before being caught by police.
Kelly allegedly held the Dodge Challenger’s driver at gunpoint at a petrol station in Southhaven, Mississippi, according to the police.
Officers started a high-speed pursuit on Interstate 55 with the car’s driver, who was unharmed, and it concluded with Kelly crashing.
Video captures Kelly beaming widely as she is placed in the back of a police cruiser after two firearms were found in the vehicle.
Two institutions were placed on high alert, public transit services were cancelled, and people were told to remain indoors while Kelly’s deadly rampage continued.
Residents of Memphis are in shock after his rampage because to the recent spike in violent crime in the city.
Police were looking for missing mother-of-two Eliza Fletcher, 34, after a pastor was recently killed in a carjacking in the city; they eventually discovered her lifeless corpse beside an abandoned building.
Following her forceful loading into a vehicle, Cleotha Abston-Henderson, 38, was yesterday charged with the rich heiress’s murder.
In 2020, Abston-Henderson received an early release from jail after being convicted of felony abduction; had he received the full term, he would have been behind bars until 2022.
In June 2020, Kelly was detained on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder, reckless endangerment, possession of a firearm during a crime, and aggravated assault.
He pleaded to to the lesser charge of aggravated assault in 2021 for crimes he did when he was 17 years old.
He received a three-year jail term, but only served 11 months of it before being freed in March.
He was freed for an unknown reason, but Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland criticised the legal system for its action.
“Mr. Kelly would still be in jail today if he had completed his three-year term, and four of our fellow Americans would still be alive,” he said.
While claiming that the police were repeatedly detaining “the same individuals,” he also asked the public to hold him and other authorities accountable for the city’s high rate of violent crime.
“I enjoy being held solely accountable for reducing violent crime,” Strickland said. However, I lack the power to deal with bonds. Over state sentencing legislation. Prisoner rehabilitation is overdone.
I’m sick of our police officers detaining the same suspects again while they continue to conduct violent crimes, therefore I need the public to hold others responsible.
Five witnesses at the site of the first shooting, which occurred at one in the morning, recognised the gunman as Zeek Huncho, Kelly’s Facebook identity.
The 19-year-old is known for committing violent crimes.
According to court documents, Kelly, who was 17 at the time, was charged as an adult in February 2020 with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault, using a gun to conduct a serious offence, and reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon.
The case’s circumstances weren’t immediately clear.
According to records, he admitted to aggravated assault and was given a three-year term in April 2021.
After serving his term for 11 months, Kelly was released from jail in March. Uncertainty exists on the motive behind the 22-hour shooting spree.
In mid-August, Kelly, whose Facebook page often shows him flaunting weapons and cash, wrote an unsettling message that said, “I’m sorry mommy.” You despise the way I live, I know. I pledge I won’t go without a fight since I know you pray every night.
He reportedly used Facebook Live to broadcast his alleged rampage. He was observed travelling throughout the city in a vehicle, and he once started shooting inside an Auto Zone. According to the police, a guy was seriously hurt.
The tape captures the guy stating, “This sh*t for real,” as he exits the AutoZone.
His profile looked to have been deleted by the social media juggernaut as of Thursday morning.
“I believe that the general people is also tired of it, but they must make their voices known to these other institutions that have a say.”
Get involved with our justice system and the judges who hand down these light sentences by calling your state legislature.
Kelly yelled on social media throughout his rampage that he would not go back to prison, but it is unclear what provoked the shootings.
Police have not yet confirmed the identity of any of the victims or provided any information on a potential catalyst for the gun rampage.
He can be heard constantly screaming “we do this s*** for real” and “he was dying today” throughout the video.
Additionally, the adolescent is heard stating, “Check this s*** out. I pull up and act like this.
“What say they n*****? No feigning? No feigning. Yes, I did say this was genuine.
What role do you believe I’m playing on my mother? Man, this is so authentic. I’m really murdering s***.
At one point, he even made a threat to “shoot it out” with the cops.
Following the broadcast, it seemed that Kelly’s Facebook page had been deleted by the social media juggernaut.
According to information provided to MailOnline, the social media platform quickly deleted Kelly’s live video and was attempting to get rid of any copies of it so that it wouldn’t continue to circulate on Facebook.
In reaction to the shooting, the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism, an organisation that seeks to stop extremists from abusing the internet and other media, activated its Content Incident Protocol.
The Memphis Police Department posted: “ALERT!! ARMED AND PERILOUS!
Watch out for a Black guy who is driving a blue or silver vehicle (perhaps an Infiniti or Nissan) and has been involved in several shootings.
We’re hearing rumours that he’s posting videos of his deeds on Facebook. He is not currently at a known place to us.
The statement instructed readers to call 911 right away if they knew anything about the man’s location, adding that additional details would be released when they became available.
Kelly’s short dreadlocks are seen in another clip taken from same programme as he drives down the road and declares, “It’s getting pretty crazy here,” followed by the sound of automatic gunfire.
Kelly sent an unsettling message in mid-August, stating “I’m sorry mommy,” on his Facebook page, where he often poses flashing weapons and cash. You despise the way I live, I know. I pledge I won’t go without a fight since I know you pray every night.
The regular bus service in Memphis was halted while the gunman frightened the city. Friends and family members quickly texted and contacted one another to inquire about one another’s well-being. TV networks interrupt regular coverage to update viewers.
Throughout the incident, the public provided police with “a large number of tips,” according to Davis.
Students at the University of Memphis received a notification stating that a gunshot had been reported nearby.
According to the news source, the Memphis Red Birds halted their home game and removed the players.
Nearby Rhodes College, which is 4 miles from the university, advised both on- and off-campus students to take cover.
Nearly 11 miles from the University and 12 miles from Rhodes College, Kelly was detained.
It is too early in the investigation, according to Ali Roberts, acting assistant special agent in charge for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Memphis, to explain how the suspect obtained the pistol or firearms used in the killings.
After the shooting rampage, witnesses told the media that deaths were “all too often,” and a reporter who had been reporting the massacre while it was occurring sobbed on air.
Chris Smith, 47, was at Walmart shopping when she learned that a shooter was on the loose.
She told the New York Times, “All I could think was that I didn’t want to die at Walmart.” “So I left there,” you say.
It’s just too typical, she said. You must carry yourself as if “If it’s my time, it’s my time.”
Living in Memphis is like living in each episode of Breaking Bad, Mary Dudley told the Commercial Appeal.
As she reported on the gunshot with the blue flashing lights of police cruisers screaming behind her, Action News 5 anchor and reporter Joyce Peterson fought back tears.
Memphis is now worn out, Peterson said.
“The other crimes we had this year leading up to this, the kidnapping, abduction, and murder. It’s challenging right now. She pleaded with you, fighting back tears.
It’s been a very trying week for those who knew the Fletcher family, the family of the minister who was shot and killed in her driveway during a carjacking, and the family of the community champion from Whitehaven who was also killed by gunfire. Memphis has had difficulties.
They’re going to locate this person, she said courageously. Until they do,
Before outlining which city routes were blocked because they were crime scenes, she urged people to “remain indoors.”
He claimed to be the suspect on Facebook. He’s leaving in a victorious flame. At the moment, he doesn’t care. Without rhyme or explanation, he is just attacking individuals.
He is only killing people. He has shot many individuals and carjacked someone. Social media users in Memphis are writing, “Stay indoors.” She said, “Listen to that warning.
A number of high-profile homicides have occurred in the city recently, including the kidnapping and murder last week of rich heiress Eliza Fletcher, 34, who was out on a morning run, and the murder of a pastor during a carjacking.
In the candid and emotional news conference, Mayor Strickland voiced his outrage over the shooting and urged Memphis to “rise up” and “unite” against violence.
He asked Memphis residents to exert pressure on state lawmakers to advance additional judicial reform and provide law enforcement more power to imprison dangerous criminals.
With police and other Memphis authorities on each side of him and pictures of his predecessors hanging on the wall behind him, Mayor Strickland gave his remarks.
“I am furious. I am furious for them (the victims), and I am furious for our people who had to take cover for their own protection until this perpetrator was apprehended,’ he added. We cannot live like this, and it is not acceptable. The residents of our community had to deal with the kind of violence that nobody ought to have to.
Strickland continued by describing the severe criminal past of the suspect Kelly and highlighting the fact that, although having admitted guilt to the charge of aggravated assault, he had already served barely 11 months of his sentence.
These heinous deeds demonstrate the need of “Truth in Sentencing,” he added, adding that we should take every precaution to keep our city secure. A statute known as “Truth in Sentencing” mandates that violent offenders accused with crimes like as murder, rape, and serious assault, among others, carry out the whole of their sentences.
We shouldn’t allow ourselves to be scared by those who wish to destroy Memphis and instil dread in our hearts. This idea must bring us together as we confront the problem of violent crime in our community.
The Memphis Police Department and other cooperating law enforcement agencies were commended by Strickland for their assistance in catching the suspect tonight and, of course, in the earlier this week hunt for Eliza Fletcher.
Although our city has had a sad week, Memphis has optimism. I’m in love with Memphis. We will persevere if we stick together, he added.
‘I realise it seems like so much violence and evil to experience in such a short period, we are SO much more than this,’ Memphis City Council member Chase Carlisle said on Twitter.
Mass shootings and other gun violence occur often in the United States, but Congress has been hesitant to enact severe gun control laws because it is still a contentious political subject.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been at least 490 mass shootings and murders in the US so far in 2022, and 14,050 people have died from gun-related events overall, excluding suicides.