13-Year-Old Shot At Memphis Elementary School, Another Student Is In Custody

A 13-year-old boy was injured Thursday morning in a shooting at a Memphis, Tennessee elementary school. Police locked down the building and took the suspected shooter, another student, into custody later in the day, according to the Memphis Police Department. 

Police from four Memphis stations responded to an active shooter call at Cummings Elementary around 9:15 a.m., where they discovered a 13-year-old who had been shot. The boy was transported to Memphis' Le Bonheur Children's Hospital where he remains in stable but critical condition.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of this student and the student," Jerica Phillips, a spokesperson for Shelby County schools, said in a news conference Thursday. Phillips added that the school had recently completed its active shooter drill on September 2. 

Officers cleared the building and then relocated both students and school staff to a staging area to be reunited with their loved ones. Video evidence identified the alleged shooter as another student, who fled the campus in a vehicle after injuring the 13-year old, according to Assistant Chief of Police Don Crowe. 

During a second sweep of the elementary school, the suspected shooter turned himself in to a Memphis police precinct, where he remains in custody. Police have declined to reveal the suspect's age or name. 

"It's a very early in the investigation," Crowe said. "We know there's many many questions, especially motive and why. It's way too early in the investigation to begin that but we have detectives on the scene." 

Anyone with additional video evidence or information on the shooting is encouraged to reach out to the Memphis Police. 

Memphis Mayor Lee Harris encouraged residents to pray for the injured students and his parents during his recovery as well as called for answers on ending gun violence. 

"Today, a child has been critically injured from a gunshot wound while in school," Harris said in a statement. "We pray for the victim of this most recent shooting and all the young people who faced this unthinkable trauma. We also pray for the wisdom and courage needed to begin to curb gun violence."