Motel shooting death near Smith & Nephew in Whitehaven is investigated

Daniel Connolly
Memphis Commercial Appeal
A photo of the Americas Best Value Inn in Whitehaven, where a homicide was reported Wednesday.

Memphis police are investigating a shooting death that took place at Americas Best Value Inn at 1360 Springbrook in Whitehaven.

Police responded at 1:20 p.m. Wednesday, according to a police statement posted on Twitter. The police said no description of a suspect is available, and didn't release information about the victim.

The rundown motel is near the East Brooks Road exit of I-55, separated by a narrow street and a couple of fences from a facility for medical device maker Smith & Nephew.

When a reporter arrived at the motel in late afternoon, police had already left, and several people said they didn't know what had happened. 

Young men walked in and out of various rooms. One man walked quickly around the property, as though he was looking for someone, and another man followed at a short distance. 

Meanwhile, children played with an abandoned grocery cart in the motel parking lot, taking turns riding in it and pushing each other.

"When you got a bunch of kids in a place like this, something ain't right. . . They ain't being looked after like they should be," Webster Fleming, 75, said from a ground-floor room.

He said he saw the ambulance and a small group of women looking up at the second floor of the motel, where the shooting apparently took place, but he didn't know what happened.

He said he's a former truck driver, lives on Social Security, and has stayed in the motel ever since he lost his house - for a total of about 17 years.

Reach reporter Daniel Connolly at 529-5296, daniel.connolly@commercialappeal.com, or on Twitter at @danielconnolly.