Memphis Woman Returns Fire on Ex-Boyfriend Who Shot Up Her Apartment While Her Sister and 10-Year-Old Were Inside

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

MEMPHIS, TN — A Raleigh woman shot her ex-boyfriend in self-defense early Wednesday morning after he returned to her apartment for a second time that day, vandalized her car, and fired multiple rounds at her home while her sister and 10-year-old child were inside.

As reported by WREG, the woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said she broke up with the man about a week ago after he cheated on her, and he had been angry ever since. The first incident happened earlier in the day at her apartment on Westline Drive. The man banged on her door, and when she did not answer, he fired several shots into the air and left.

He came back a short time later. This time he vandalized her car. When she yelled at him to stop, he fired at her. One bullet went through her window and into the living room wall. Another hit an exterior wall. She shared photos of the damage with WREG.

She returned fire and said she did not realize until police detained her that she had hit him. The man drove himself to his sister’s house on Emerson Avenue, where officers found him being loaded into an ambulance around 5:30 a.m. His white Nissan Altima was still running with the driver’s side door open in the driveway.

Officers found 9mm and .40-caliber shell casings at Westline Drive. Inside the man’s Altima, police recovered a .40-caliber Smith and Wesson shell casing. The vehicle was towed.

The woman was questioned for several hours and released without charges. Memphis Police have not released the man’s condition or any charges he may face.

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The Takeaway

This is a textbook example of how dangerous the period right after leaving an unstable or unfaithful partner can be. The woman ended the relationship a week earlier. He responded by escalating to gunfire at her home where her sister and a child were sleeping. The pattern is well documented and worth taking seriously.

She had a firearm. She knew how to use it. She returned fire when an attacker was actively shooting at her apartment from outside. Tennessee law recognizes the right to defend yourself and others in your home against an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm, and the facts here fit the standard squarely. The fact that police questioned her and then released her without charges is consistent with how a clear self-defense case should be handled.

For anyone leaving a relationship that has shown signs of instability, building a real safety plan is not paranoia. That includes situational awareness, knowing who has access to your home, communicating with people you trust, and, for those who choose it, the lawful means to defend yourself with a firearm. The right tool in the right hands is what kept this from being a much worse story.