MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Residents in Frayser want to know why crime keeps happening at gas stations in their neighborhood.
Tuesday, Memphis Police released the name and charges for one suspect they arrested at Monday night’s gas station shooting in Frayser.
22-year-old Jaylin Briggs is charged with aggravated robbery, aggravated assault and evading arrest.
The shooting was at the EZ Express on Frayser Boulevard, which Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy declared a public nuisance in 2023 because of what the D.A. said was a high volume of crime surrounding the station.
It has since reopened.
EZ Express employees said they feel they have done everything they can. They said they added security cameras, installed better lighting and have a security guard on duty.
The employees said they didn’t recognize the suspects, guessing that they were probably from another area. They said this could have happened anywhere.
Willie Stapleton, who lives in Collierville but visits Frayser regularly, said he saw multiple people attack someone at a different gas station earlier in the summer.
“Like three guys jumped on, tried to fight, one older gentleman,” Stapleton said. “Probably like 60 years old.”
Sharon Fields, who works in Frayser, said she doesn’t feel safe at any of the local gas stations.
“I have to drive all the way to the other side of town or somewhere else just to get gas,” she said.
Monday, Memphis Police said they responded to gunshots at the EZ Express after four armed suspects surrounded someone, took a gun from them and shot at both the victim and a security guard after he tried to intervene.
MPD said they chased the four suspects to Mountain Terrace, where an officer shot at one of them during a foot pursuit before the suspect got away.
Darrell Scott, Executive Director of the Frayser Community Development Corporation, said these incidents are hurting revitalization efforts in Frayser and need to stop.
“From the city, from policing and then also from residents being able to speak up and continuing to send out notification that this is a nuisance; we don’t want these types of places in our community,” Scott said. “If they’re rundown, if the owners are not keeping them and maintaining them, they’re just extracting out revenue and they’re really not investing in the community.”
Frayser pastor Ricky Floyd argued it starts with the public holding gas stations accountable for any loitering.
“Do you want this image that’s being projected, and too many times has become a reality, or do you want to join us in building a new Frayser?" he asked.
Floyd and Scott went so far as to say they’d like to see local ordinances put in place to govern activities allowed at gas stations.