Monday, October 29, 2007

Memphis, Tennessee

From MyFoxMemphis.com of October 29, 2007
Nearly Nude Man Shoots Carjacking Suspect

With no time to think, not even enough time to grab clothes, a son took-off after his mother's alleged carjacker and shot him. Police say the carjacking started in Olive Branch in the 9100 block of Hickory Drive around 1:30 Monday afternoon. It ended in Memphis at Riverdale and Stateline Road, that's where the victim's son shot the suspect. Now, he's recovering at the Med.

The carjacking suspect is under a watchful eye at the Med. He's officially in Shelby County's custody. He's in critical but stable condition after he was shot twice by a man who didn't think twice about protecting his mother.

Keith Gray stood inside crime scene tape on Stateline Road. His first request after chasing down and shooting his mother's alleged carjacker was for some clothes.

"We got a call from my brother requesting some shoes because he ran out," said Lance Gray. "I think the only thing he had on was some underwear."

Lance Gray said his brother acted on instinct when he heard their 71-year-old mother scream.

The Shelby County Sheriff's Office said Bobbie Gray was unloading groceries in her Olive Branch driveway when 18-year-old David Andre Bates put a shotgun to her head and demanded the keys to her 2004 Mercury Marquis.

"My brother was on the couch, heard the commotion and went and got his gun and chased him down," said Lance.

The chase was about three miles down Stateline Road and into Shelby County. Keith Gray was in his 2002 Nissan Maxima with his pistol. In his mother's car, officers say Bates was armed with a shotgun.

"That's when the son fired several times at the suspect's vehicle," said Steve Shular, of the Shelby County Sheriff's Department.

Bates was hit in the left hip. Officers say he ran, leaving the Mercury Marquis, and eventually fell to the ground.

"The suspect kept getting up," said Shular. That's when the son fired one time, hitting the suspect in the leg."

Officers say Bates wasn't holding his weapon when he was shot. But Lance Gray doesn't question his brother's quick reaction which didn't even leave him time to put on clothes.

"He was legally okay to carry the gun and things like that and he was protecting my mother as anyone else would in the same circumstance," he said.

Olive Branch officers say Bates will be charged with aggravated carjacking. As for Keith Gray, Shelby County deputies don't know what, if any, charges he will face. His mother is at home and doing well.

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