MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A teenager is in critical condition Friday after being shot during a struggle with a Memphis police officer over a gun in North Memphis.
MPD said officers stopped a black Dodge Challenger in the 1900 block of Edward Cove around 6:30 a.m. Friday which fit the description of an earlier shots fired call.
Just days until the new year, this marks the fifth shooting involving an officer in Memphis since November 21. Several people who say they're the teen's family are outraged at what happened in North Memphis.
"He probably won't be able to ever use his right hand again, father Lemul Finney said. "All he know how to do is work."
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) said officers confirmed the car was stolen and saw a man asleep inside with a gun in his lap.
TBI said a struggle over the gun led to shots fired, hitting the teenager. A woman on the scene, saying the 17-year-old is her brother, contests this claim.
“Ain’t no way nobody struggled with a gun; with one hand," she said.
The family said the 17-year-old was shot in an arm with an already injured hand.
"One arm is gonna be shorter than the other," Finney said. "Tissues tore up; he didn't have but one hand anyway."
Community leaders are calling for transparency and more involvement from the district attorney's office's new 'Justice Review Unit'.
"Show us the footage," community activist Casio Montez said. "Don't have this parent running back and forth from the hospital to the scene; these are babies, these are our children," he said. "So at the end of the day accountability and transparency."
As is protocol, this shooting is currently being investigated by TBI at the request of Shelby County D.A. Steve Mulroy.
ABC24 reached out to the D.A.'s office for more information on the 'Justice Review Unit' tasked with investigating these situations but the D.A. was not available for comment Friday.