Tennessee police on Monday shot and apprehended a man who fired a gun outside a Jewish school in Memphis, according to officials.
Police were called to the Margolin Hebrew Academy-Feinstone Yeshiva of the South around 12.20pm local time, on reports that an armed man had attempted to enter the school, wasn’t able to, then began firing shots from outside.
No one at the school was injured.
School officials described the man as driving a maroon Dodge Ram pickup truck.
Officers caught up with a vehicle matching that description and fired upon the driver when he exited the truck holding a gun, according to police.
“I am proud of the vigilant and quick response of MPD officers who mitigated a potential mass shooting today,” police chief CJ Davis said on Monday. “Many thanks to our neighboring jurisdictions for also providing critical information to stop the suspect’s actions.”
A Memphis Police officer walks on the scene of a shooting at Margolin Hebrew School on Monday, July 31, 2023 in Memphis, Tenn.
The alleged gunman is in critical condition at Regional One Hospital.
Memphis assistant police chief Don Crowe said on Monday it’s “way too early” to discern a potential motive or connection between the alleged shooter and the school, CNN reports.
Steve Cohen, a congressman whose district represents large portions of Memphis, told Fox 13 Memphis on Monday the shooter himself is Jewish and a former Margolin student.
"We have recently learned that the shooter at the Margolin Hebrew Academy was himself Jewish and a former student at the school. I am pleased the academy had effective security and that the police acted quickly to protect students," the congressman said in a statement.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is now handling the case.
Oscar Gomez told The Associated Press his two teenage children witnessed police shooting the alleged gunman.
“They heard the shooting, and they threw themselves on the floor trying to protect themselves,” he said.
A security photo of the alleged gunman obtained by ABC 24 shows a balding man in a blue t-shirt and shirts entering the Margolin building holding what appears to be a pistol.
In May, six people, including three young children, were killed in a mass shooting at a Christian grade school in Nashville, Tennessee.
The first half of 2023 has been the deadliest six months of mass killing on record in the last two decades, according to an AP analysis.
There have been 420 mass shootings this year, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive.
