A 26-year-old man is in police custody after he allegedly opened fire into a Fox affiliate TV station in Memphis, Tennessee on Tuesday, May 2. The incident occurred just before noon, with Fox 13 Memphis (WHBQ-TV) confirming that no one was injured in the shooting, which was captured on video.
The suspect, identified by police as 26-year-old Jarrad Nathan, reportedly first encountered a FOX13 employee outside of the gate, per the outlet, and proceeded to show the employee that he had a gun. After the employee ended the conversation and left, Nathan went to the front of the building and fired a single shot from a high-power AR-style rifle into the station. In the video, the suspect could be seen entering the lobby as two people behind the lobby desk ran for cover. Nobody was injured in the incident, and the shell casing fell outside of the front door of the lobby. Fox13 meteorologist Chelsea Chandler shared an image on Twitter of the shell casing.
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Employees at the station evacuated the building and neighboring businesses went into lockdown, with the University of Memphis issuing an advisory and telling students and faculty to shelter indoors, as ATF agents and police officers swarmed the scene. Nathan, meanwhile, fled the scene and ran to Ubee’s, where he is said to have barricaded himself. As he was barricaded, the suspect reportedly posted a Facebook Live video showing himself barricaded in the restaurant. Approximately two hours after the shooting occurred, Memphis Police were able to take Nathan into custody. He was charged with aggravated assault and reckless endangerment. According to his family, who spoke with Fox13, Nathan had been going through a mental episode at the time of the incident, with one friend telling the station that they were planning to meet with him to take him to a shelter later on Tuesday.
“I want the viewers to know that he’s not a bad person at all,” Nathan’s mother, who said her son had been going to Lakeside, a mental health treatment center in Shelby County, since he was 16 years old, said. “He one of the nicest and kindest you will meet. Everybody has another side to them. I think my son is crying out for attention because he needs some help. Anybody who would come to the news place and shoot at anybody, that is a cry for some help.”
FOX13 employees remained evacuated to the back parking lot for about 30 minutes before safely returning to the station after police cleared the area. Reacting to the incident, Chandler wrote online, “This is a multi-tier battle. How do we win. How do we stop it. Where do we start.”
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