Memphis police had a suspect in custody late Sunday after one of their own was shot and killed earlier in the day.
Terence Olridge, 31, who had been with the department for barely more than a year, was off-duty when he was fatally shot near his Cordova home Sunday, officials said. Charges had not been filed against the suspect late Sunday, and police have released few details about what happened.
Officer.com Editor's Note: Reports indicate that Officer Olridge was in uniform preparing to go to work when he was killed while attempting to break up a domestic dispute between neighbors.
This shooting follows the Aug. 1 death of Officer Sean Bolton, who was shot and killed after a traffic stop while on duty. Tremaine Wilbourn has been charged with first-degree murder in that case.
"It wasn't very long ago that I stood in very close proximity to where I am standing now, and said something very, very similar to what I'm saying here," Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong said outside the Regional Medical Center Sunday afternoon. "It just doesn't get any easier. I didn't think that we'd be here again so soon."
This latest incident began about 12:50 p.m. at a home in the 2600 block of Long Shadow Lane, not far from the Lakeland city limits. According to police, the incident happened near Olridge's driveway.
Sources have indicated that Olridge became involved with a neighbor, possibly over a domestic incident, but that remains unclear. The neighbor then apparently opened fire. Police had much of Long Shadow blocked off on Sunday, and numerous officers could be seen at a house neighbors identified as the one where the suspect lives.
According to police, Olridge was found in his driveway with multiple gunshot wounds. Paramedics rushed him to the Regional Medical Center, but he died at the hospital.
Keith Norman, who serves as the department chaplain, met with the family at the Med. "They are very shocked, and obviously very hurt by what has taken place," he said. "The whole shock of it has them completely gripped right now. This was not an expected thing, by any means, never anticipated in any way."
Olridge worked the 2-10 p.m. shift at the Airways precinct. It appears he was due to work Sunday, but it was unclear whether he was already in uniform at the time of the shooting.
One woman who lives nearby said she heard what sounded like 15 shots; she declined to give her name. Another said he heard what sounded like a hammer.
Olridge joined the police department on Sept. 22, 2014. He graduated from the police academy in February. He has a fiancée who is four months pregnant, Armstrong said.
Olridge is the fourth officer killed since 2011, including Timothy Warren, shot to death in a downtown hotel on July 3, 2011; and Martoiya Lang, shot to death while serving a warrant on Dec. 14, 2012.
Copyright 2015 The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, Tenn.)
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