There was a shooting spree in Memphis, Tennessee yesterday which started early in the morning and lasted until late in the evening when the suspect was finally captured. In the interim, seven people were shot and four were killed by 19-year-old Ezekiel Kelly who live streamed some of the shootings on Facebook. Kelly, who goes by the name Zeek Huncho online, apparently selected his victims at random. News Channel 3 in Memphis put together this timeline based on information released by police.

• 12:56 a.m., a 24-year-old man was killed on Lyndale in the Highland Heights neighborhood. A suspect who called himself Zeek Huncho on social media was developed.
• 4:38 p.m., a man was found shot dead in a vehicle at a gas station on South Parkway E. Surveillance video revealed a man in a gray sedan pulled up next to the victim’s car and opened fire.
• 4:40 p.m., a woman was injured in a second shooting on Norris Road near I-240. The suspect fled in a dark sedan.
• 5:59 p.m. Kelly walked into an AutoZone store in the 4000 block of Jackson Avenue and shot a man while live-streaming on Facebook. The man was in critical condition, police said.
• 6:56 p.m., Memphis Police put out an alert on the suspect after receiving a call that Kelly was making threats on Facebook.
• 7:23 p.m., a woman was killed in a shooting at Poplar and Evergreen. Police said Kelly took her gray SUV and fled.
• 7:24 p.m., a man shot at Poplar and Evergreen
• 8:55 p.m., a woman shot dead on Raines Road
• 8:56 p.m., Southaven Police responded to a carjacking at Stateline Road and Highway 51. Kelly took the man’s gray Dodge Challenger and left the SUV behind.

Finally, just before 9 pm, Kelly was arrested. Every time we have one of these mass shootings that attract national attention there are certain people on social media who make a big point of claiming that a black murder suspects don’t get arrested by police, they are simply killed in the street, whereas violent white suspects get arrested and treated with kid gloves. There were lots of people saying some version of this after the Highland Park shooting, for instance. But here’s Zeek Huncho who shot 7 people at random and he’s been arrested.

Arrest video of Ezekiel Kelly aka Zeek Huncho #memphis #AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/o7kijExq3r

— That Guy Shane (@ProfanityNewz) September 8, 2022

Videos of Kelly’s shooting spree were circulating widely on social media including one where he walks into an AutoZone store and shoots a random person. Here’s another clip in which he apparently fires at people standing outside a gas station. Note that the language here is very NSFW.

MEMPHIS, TENN: A man using the name "Zeek Huncho" on Facebook is wanted by #Memphis Police
– Gunman shooting victims randomly on FB Live
– Residents told to shelter-in-place
– Campuses, entertainment venues on lockdown
pic.twitter.com/RH3mVKI0nh

— online 📡 ¯(ツ) ⁄ ¯ (@onlinestoryel) September 8, 2022

At a press conference Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland expressed anger that Kelly was walking the streets at all, noting that he’d previously been convicted and sentenced to three years in prison but only served about 11 months of that sentence. The story is actually worse than that. Kelly could have faced a much longer sentence as he was initially charged with two counts of attempted murder but those charges were pleaded down to aggravated assault.

In 2020, he was also charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder, possession of a firearm and reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon. Then 17, he was initially charged in juvenile court, the records said, but his case was transferred to adult court. Mayor Strickland said he was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to a lesser charge, aggravated assault, but served only 11 months and was released from prison in March.

“If Mr. Kelly served his full three-year sentence, he would still be in prison today and four of our fellow citizens would still be alive,” the mayor said.

Mayor Strickland explicitly defended the actions of police and laid the blame on the judicial system. “The problem is not the Memphis police department because they’re arresting people,” he said. “The problem is this judicial system that will not punish,” he added.

'THE PROBLEM IS THE JUDICAL SYSTEM': Memphis mayor Jim Strickland addresses the public on the shooting suspect
LATEST: https://t.co/8mamrO3KY5 pic.twitter.com/AxsEVIeova

— KWTX News 10 (@kwtx) September 8, 2022

Apparently, a new DA just took over in Shelby County which includes Memphis:

A Democratic lawyer who pledged to make abortion prosecutions under Tennessee’s “trigger law” an extremely low priority in the county that includes Memphis has defeated the incumbent Republican district attorney who refused to say whether she would go after doctors who perform the procedure.

Steve Mulroy scored a decisive win over Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich in Thursday’s election after a contentious race that featured clashes over abortion prosecutions as well as a new state law requiring strict sentencing for violent crimes and other issues…

Mulroy, a law professor, civil rights lawyer and former federal prosecutor, and Weirich argued over Tennessee’s new “truth in sentencing” law, which requires serving entire sentences for various felonies, including attempted first-degree murder, vehicular homicide resulting from the driver’s intoxication and carjacking…

Mulroy said the law does not reduce crime or provide incentives for incarcerated people to rehabilitate and earn credit for work done in prison. The law drives up Tennessee’s prison populations and budgets, using funds that could be better spent on youth intervention and community reentry programs, he said.

Mulroy wasn’t in charge when Kelly was charged in the previous case but I wonder if this case will impact his view of truth in sentencing. Here’s Mayor Strickland’s full statement.

Correction: Mentioned the Uvalde shooting above but actually meant to mention Robert Crimo, the Highland Park shooter. I’ve corrected it.

Update: One of the victims has been identified as medical assistant Allison Parker.

Also, the man who was shot inside the AutoZone has been identified. He has undergone one surgery already and has at least one more ahead of him.