Left unchecked, street takeovers are only turning more violent. This really shouldn’t shock anyone, but far too many municipal, county, and state governments have treated these illegal gatherings with kid gloves. But a fatal mass shooting at one in Memphis, Tennessee should act as a wakeup call to everyone that it’s past time takeovers or sideshows are shut down everywhere.
Seattle might drop the hammer on street takeovers.
Footage of the event uploaded to X shows a Corvette ripping some smokey donuts when shots ring out. As the person taking the video scrambles for cover, you can hear easily dozens if not hundreds of rounds fired rapidly.
Right before the shooting, another video also posted to X shows multiple people holding guns in the air as the Corvette is burning rubber. Anyone who thinks that’s normal needs to go to some regular car meets, because it isn’t.
This street takeover, which was held in Orange Mound Park on the night of April 20, is being called a block party. However, police say the event didn’t appear to have a city permit. In other words, it was likely an illegal gathering, like the regular street takeovers held in intersections.
During the event, police say two people opened fire on the crowd just after 7 pm. With all those people shown in the one video holding guns, and how many rounds we hear fired off rapidly, that seems hard to believe.
By the time the shooting stopped, 16 had been hit, two of them dying on the scene. Police say another three were transported to the hospital in critical condition.
So far, police haven’t named suspects or arrested anyone. We hope with all the video footage being taken at the gathering someone caught the identities of the shooters and they’re brought to justice.
Also, perhaps now Memphis will take street takeovers seriously and drop the hammer on anyone attending them? Probably not, but I would be wise to put an immediate end to them.
Images via rawsalerts/X
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🚨#BREAKING: Multiple people have reportedly been shot at a mass shooting during a block party/street takeover, with hundreds of shots being fired
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) April 21, 2024
📌#Memphis | #Tennessee
Multiple law enforcement and emergency personnel are currently on the scene in Memphis, Tennessee, where… pic.twitter.com/bDMZgUzRzw
🚨#UPDATE: Here is more footage of the mass shooting that took place earlier this evening. As Memphis Police have just announced that 16 people were shot, with at least 2 killed, during the block party/street takeover pic.twitter.com/qm4xzHPc77
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) April 21, 2024
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