Man suspected in multiple shootings in Memphis in custody, police say

A 19-year-old man sought by Memphis police in multiple shootings that prompted warnings to stay inside has been captured, authorities said Wednesday night.

Police at 9:28 p.m. announced that the suspect in the shootings, was in custody.

More than two hours earlier, police issued an urgent alert warning about an armed and dangerous man who had shot multiple people, and who may have recorded the violence on social media.

Officials have not released the number of people shot, and whether anyone is dead. The number and location of shooting scenes was also not clear.

The police department did not immediately respond to a request for more details.

“We don’t know his motive, we just know that he is responsible for multiple shootings at this time,” police Major Karen Rudolph, a department spokesperson, told NBC affiliate WMC of Memphis on-air.

The police department and the city government told residents of the city of around 630,000 to stay indoors. The Memphis Area Transit Authority announced that trolley and bus service was being suspended due to the situation.

Memphis police at around 7 p.m. local time tweeted an urgent alert warning that an armed man was responsible for multiple shootings.

“We are getting reports that he is recording his actions on Facebook. We do not have a specific location of where he is now,” the tweet stated.

Rudolph, the police official, confirmed to WMC in a phone interview that the suspect recorded a shooting.

“Yes, that is true,” she said. “We did receive a video where he was recording himself”

Rudolph told WMC that the suspect was initially in a vehicle described to have dealer tags, but then changed vehicles. She did not elaborate how that occurred.

At 9:11 p.m., police asked in a tweet that everyone in the area of Ivan and Hodge roads stay indoors. The shelter in place was lifted after the suspect was taken into custody.

This is a developing story and will be updated.