Man arrested in lounge shooting in Whitehaven
10 people were injured, 1 killed in the Sunday morning incident
A 21-year-old man has been arrested and charged with playing a role in an early Sunday morning shooting that left 10 people injured and one dead.
Julius Michael Freeman of Memphis is charged with facilitation of second-degree murder, five counts of attempted facilitation of second-degree murder and five counts of possession of a firearm to commit a dangerous felony.
Memphis police officers went to a shooting at Live Lounge at about 12:43 a.m. Sunday morning where they found two women who were shot and in critical condition. In total, police said they believe there to be 11 victims. Four more shooting victims were found in critical condition, one was found in non-critical, one was found dead, and three others were found at various other hospitals.
MPD later said five people, who arrived at various hospitals in non-critical condition, had been released from medical care.
Memphis police released a statement Sunday afternoon that they were looking for three people — Freeman was one of those men. The other two are not in custody.
A police affidavit detailed the process investigators went through when tracking down victims. Although Memphis police said 11 people were shot, the affidavit names only eight.
The affidavit said when officers arrived at the lounge, two women were found shot and in critical condition when officers arrived. They were taken to Regional One Hospital.
Memphis police and Memphis fire were later called to Shelby Drive and Bender Road where additional shooting victims were found in a blue Mercury Milan. Six men were in the car, one of whom was pronounced dead at the scene.
The five men went to “neighboring hospitals,” ac
cording to MPD. Four of those men were in critical condition and one was in non-critical condition, the affidavit said.
Police found surveillance footage that showed a man pulling a rifle from the trunk of the Dodge Charger and opening fire on the Mercury Milan.
“The male then fired numerous rounds at the blue Mercury Milan occupied by the additional shooting victims,” the affidavit said. “Investigators located 27 spent casings of a .223. The male shooter then got into the passenger seat of the gray Charger and was driven away from the scene.”
Freeman turned himself in at the Ridgeway station and said he was involved in the incident, the affidavit said.
“Julius Freeman provided a statement in which he admitted to bringing the male shooter to the scene as a passenger in his Dodge Charger,” the affidavit read. “He admitted to handing him a rifle from the trunk of the Dodge Charger and driving the male shooter away from the scene after the shooting.”
Freeman is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday morning.
Lucas Finton is a news reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.finton@commercialappeal.com and followed on Twitter @Lucasfinton.