Couple gets in shootout with would-be car thieves outside East Memphis restaurant

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A man and woman were taken to a hospital in critical condition Tuesday after a shooting outside a restaurant at Poplar Avenue and International Place in East Memphis, police said.

“I saw a young lady who was standing right here. She was being held up by two others and they were administering first aid and a gentleman over here who had an injury to his knee,” said Victoria Franklin, a prep cook who works at the restaurant.

That couple was later upgraded to non-critical condition, according to the Memphis Police Department (MPD).

The manager of the Big Bad Breakfast restaurant said a couple was leaving the business when they discovered suspects trying to steal their red Dodge. The manager said the couple exchanged gunfire with the suspects.

Franklin said they were having a holiday party when the incident happened. She said the restaurant was full of customers with children sitting near a front window.

“They had kids up by the window and when the shots happened everybody freaked out and ran to the back of the building,” said Franklin.

The cook said no one was injured inside the business, but some of the employees rushed out to assist the man and woman who had been injured.

Police said the suspects left in a black Infinity.

They are asking anyone with information that may assist investigators to call Crime Stoppers at (901)528-CASH. Any information which leads to an arrest, in this case, could be worth up to $2,000.

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