Police said the shooting happened Friday afternoon near East Shelby Drive and Riverdale Road in Hickory Hill.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A woman was shot and killed Friday afternoon after a juvenile accidentally fired a gun at a business in southeast Memphis, according to police, who said officers were called to the area of East Shelby Drive and Riverdale Road just before 3 p.m.
The shooting quickly became another case drawing attention to children’s access to firearms in Memphis, though police had not publicly identified the woman or the juvenile by Sunday. Investigators said the gunfire was accidental, but they were still working to determine how the weapon was accessed, who owned it and whether any criminal charges would follow.
Memphis police said officers responded at 2:53 p.m. Friday to a report of a shooting on East Shelby Drive near Riverdale Road, an area in the city’s Hickory Hill community lined with businesses, parking lots and busy traffic. By the time officers arrived, the woman had been shot and was pronounced dead at the scene. Early television reports described the shooting as happening at or near a business property, and police later said the shot was fired by a juvenile. In a brief public account, authorities said the gun went off accidentally. They did not say how old the juvenile was, whether the child was related to the victim or whether anyone else was nearby when the weapon fired.
Officials released only a narrow set of facts in the first hours after the shooting. Police said the case remained under investigation and did not announce an arrest. They also did not release the victim’s name, her age or where exactly on the property the shooting took place. Those missing details left key questions unanswered through the weekend, including whether the gun had been left unsecured in a vehicle, carried by an adult or stored inside the business. News outlets citing police said the woman died where the shooting happened. The department’s public description did not indicate there had been an argument, chase or any sign that the gun was fired on purpose. Instead, investigators treated the case as an accidental shooting involving a child, a category that often brings a closer review of access to the weapon and the actions of adults who were present.
The location, near one of the main commercial stretches of Hickory Hill, put the shooting in a part of Memphis where families, workers and shoppers move through businesses throughout the day. The fact that the victim was killed in the middle of the afternoon added to the shock of the case. Local coverage framed the death as both sudden and deeply upsetting because it involved a juvenile and happened in a public-facing place rather than behind closed doors at night. Memphis police did not say whether emergency medical crews attempted lifesaving measures before the woman was pronounced dead. They also did not say whether surveillance video from the business or nearby properties could help explain how the gun came to be in the juvenile’s hands. Those details could become important as investigators build a timeline and decide whether the case remains solely an accident or leads to charges tied to gun storage or child access.
After confirming the shooting was accidental, the Memphis Police Department also issued a series of firearm safety reminders, signaling that investigators and department leaders saw the case as part of a larger public safety problem. The department urged gun owners to keep firearms locked and secured, store them unloaded when not in use, separate ammunition when possible and avoid leaving weapons where children can reach them. Police also pointed residents to free gun locks available at precinct stations while supplies last. Those reminders did not amount to a finding about exactly what happened Friday, but they showed the department’s immediate focus on prevention as detectives continued their work. By Sunday, police had not announced any hearing date, custody decision or charge connected to the juvenile or any adult linked to the weapon.
The scene itself offered a grim contrast: a normal Friday afternoon in a busy Memphis corridor ending with a woman dead and investigators trying to reconstruct seconds that changed several lives. Public statements from police stayed brief, and no family members had spoken at length in official updates by Sunday. The limited record left the victim known mainly through the terrible fact of her death. That, in turn, placed even more weight on the unanswered questions facing detectives. Was the gun loaded before the group arrived? Did an adult know the child could reach it? Were there earlier warnings or signs the weapon was unsecured? Those questions were still unresolved as of the weekend, even as the department’s initial description made clear that the fatal shot was not believed to have been intentional.
The case remained open Sunday, with Memphis police continuing to investigate the circumstances of the shooting and any possible next steps. The next milestone is likely the release of the victim’s identity and any decision on charges once detectives finish reviewing witness accounts and evidence.
Author note: Last updated March 8, 2026.