MEMPHIS, Tenn. — This weekend, there were two shootings in Downtown Memphis, both a short walk from the FedExForum where thousands of college basketball fans came to see the NCAA tournament for March Madness.
In an effort to keep both visitors and Memphians safe, Memphis Police and the Downtown Memphis Commission (DMC) upped the security for the weekend. New DMC President and CEO Chandell Ryan said security is a top priority.
"We will have our blue suede brigade out in full force," Ryan said. "There will be a lot that you will see on Beale Street, with our security teams being down there as well. You should expect a lot of presence.”
But on both days of the tournament, someone was shot in Downtown Memphis. On Friday morning, a man was shot on Turley Street. Then another man was shot on Peabody Place Sunday morning. This comes just one week after a man was shot and killed on Beale Street, which worries the owner of Zzz Sizzling Grill, Zangerio Dogan.
"Don't nobody want to get shot, get a tragedy like that or even see a tragedy," Dogan said. "That's traumatizing. The violence is so common now. It's like just look over and blow past it and just try to stay out the way.”
Despite the recent shootings, visitors, like Charles Barnes, said they still were able to make the best of their experience in downtown Memphis, especially here on Beale Street.
"I feel very safe," Barnes said. "There's extra security out here, and it's much needed, but I feel very safe.”
Some Memphians said the extra security measures should be implemented more often. Dogan believes the police cannot stop everything, and the community must do their part to deter crime.
"They're doing what they can do," Dogan said. "We need the parents to do something. We need the uncles, the aunties, the big cuz, the OG’s, all y'all to pull these youngsters to the side. That's what we need to do for real.”
MPD Public Information Officer Theresa Carlson said no arrests will be made in the Turley Street shooting because the victim refused to prosecute. Meanwhile, Carlson said updates will come soon on the Peabody Place shooting.