A man has been arrested by Memphis police after allegedly firing his weapon into the lobby of the Fox affiliate TV station on Tuesday afternoon.
The suspect, identified as Jarrad Nathan, reportedly fired an AR-style rifle at the Fox 13 Memphis station and then proceeded to barricade himself inside a nearby restaurant, Ubee’s, while recording a Facebook Live video. The incident prompted the evacuation of Fox 13 employees into a parking lot in the back of the building for nearly 30 minutes while police secured the area. No one was injured in the shooting.
According to reports, Nathan approached an employee outside the building and wanted to talk, but after displaying his weapon, the employee ended the conversation. Nathan then allegedly fired a single shot into the front of the station’s building. The incident caused neighboring businesses to go on lockdown, and the University of Memphis advised students and faculty to shelter indoors. Nathan has been charged with aggravated assault and reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon.
Police said that Nathan had surrendered after an hour-long barricade inside Ubee’s, and crisis negotiators persuaded him to turn himself in. Nathan was also charged with aggravated assault from an incident in March, where his aunt was the alleged victim. He remains in the Shelby County Jail on a $25,000 bond for that incident and a $250,000 bond for the incident at WHBQ. Nathan is scheduled to appear in Shelby County court on May 17, and will receive a mental evaluation.
Robby Starbuck provided video of the incident and pointed out that it should be “bigger news.”
The suspect ⬇️ was arrested for it. pic.twitter.com/4nvL7BpXYu
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) May 3, 2023
“This should be bigger news,” he said. “Yesterday a guy tried to shoot up the local Fox affiliate in Memphis, TN. We don’t know if he chose it thinking it was part of national Fox News (it’s not) but you know if it was a station with a left wing name, it’d be a bigger story!”
Fox News has recently made news for its high-profile parting with Tucker Carlson, as well as Dan Bongino. The motive is currently unknown, but more could be revealed following the suspects mental evaluation.
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