An armed man who allegedly fired a gun and tried to enter a Jewish school in Memphis is in critical condition after an officer shot him during a traffic stop, police said.
Shortly after noon on Monday, the Memphis Police Department received a call about an unidentified White man who reportedly fired his handgun outside the Margolin Hebrew Academy, police said in a statement. No one was injured in the incident, police said.
“Thankfully, that school had a great safety procedure and process in place and avoided anyone being harmed or injured at that scene,” Assistant Police Chief Don Crowe said, the Associated Press reported.
The suspect fled the scene in a maroon pickup truck with California plates before police arrived, and police said they were able to track the vehicle to Bartlett, Tennessee, after being given a description by the school.
“Officers conducted a traffic stop, at which time the driver exited the vehicle armed with a handgun,” the police statement said.
An MPD officer fired his weapon and struck the suspect, leaving him in critical condition, according to police.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation will be investigating the officer-involved shooting.
At a news conference, Crow said it’s too early to tell if the incident was a hate crime but that the suspect appeared determined to harm people.
“I think the suspect was going to harm somebody before the day was over and that our officers were able to intervene and protect the citizens,” he said.
Democratic Representative Steve Cohen, whose district includes Memphis, said in a statement, “We have recently learned that the shooter at the Margolin Hebrew Academy was himself Jewish and a former student at the school.”
Margolin Hebrew Academy is a co-ed school for children in first through eighth grades.
