Teen survives car chase, gun wound in Bartlett

Editor’s note: This story published on April 30, 2015, based on new court documents released on press day (April 28), requiring production of an immediate story on deadline. To read the more detailed story based on the initial police report, click here. 

An argument took a nearly deadly turn Saturday night in Bartlett when teens zoomed away from a party, with one group chasing and shooting at the other.

The Bartlett Police Department received multiple phone calls around 10:30 p.m. Saturday night about shots fired near Fiske Valley, where an underage party was in progress with an estimated 100 to 150 teens attending.

Officers arrived to find a silver Honda Accord bashed into a light pole on Fiske Cove. The car’s rear window was shattered. One of the people nerby was a juvenile with a cloth pressed to a bloody wound on his head.

The teen was taken to the Regional Medical Center for treatment of a gunshot wound to the right side of his forehead.

The victim, 17, was reportedly in surgery Sunday morning. UPDATE: Originally noted as being in critical condition, he had been upgraded to “serious” and then upgraded again to “stable” as of May 1, according to a Med spokesman.

Names have been redacted from official reports because the victims in the case are underage.
According to the police report, the driver told police that he and about eight other friends, including the shooting victim, were at the party when six to eight unknown black males began displaying signs of the “Fast Cash” gang and began an argument.

The unfamiliar males looked to be about 25, according to a witness.

It escalated to a fistfight, and then someone looked at the unidentified visitors and said, “They have a gun.”

The group of friends fled in the Accord but the suspects followed in a late-model red car, opening fire. The Accord driver was ducking to avoid the bullets when he lost control of the car, he said.
The 17-year-old was the only one hit by the fire, and he was sitting in the center of the Accord’s back seat.

A witness confirmed that he heard about 10-12 close gunshots from the exchange.

General descriptions of the suspects note that all but one of them was tall, and most had tattoos on their arms. Several wore hats, and one wore a bandana, but no other clothing details were noted.

Police had no suspects in custody as of Monday morning. Most of the partygoers had fled by the time officers could arrive on scene, but the police detained about 50 of them to get statements.