MEMPHIS, Tenn. (TCN) — A 26-year-old man was arrested for allegedly fatally shooting his 22-year-old ex-girlfriend in a park parking lot, driving away from the scene, and trying to run over a deputy during the pursuit.
According to the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, on Saturday, Oct. 19, at around 12:15 p.m., deputies received a call about a shooting in the parking lot of the Shelby Farms Visitor Center. Paramedics from the Memphis Fire Department pronounced the victim, Ellie Claire Young, deceased at the scene.
The sheriff’s office identified the suspect as Jackson Hopper. He reportedly fled the scene and drove through Tipton County and Lauderdale County before he was intercepted in Dyer County while driving on the wrong side of the highway and into oncoming traffic. The Dyer County Sheriff’s Office said they engaged in a “high speed pursuit” with the suspect and set up spike strips in order to stop him. However, Hopper allegedly “attempted to use his vehicle as deadly force to run over” the Dyer County sergeant who set up the spikes. Another deputy performed a PIT maneuver that stopped Hopper.
The Dyer County Sheriff’s Office shared a photo of Hopper’s vehicle, which had been completely overturned.
EMS transported Hopper to a local emergency room for evaluation. Deputies reportedly searched his car and found a loaded handgun inside. The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office said Hopper is Young’s ex-boyfriend, and the shooting “is apparently domestic-related.”
Hopper was booked into the Shelby County Jail on a charge of first-degree murder. The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office requested that Hopper be held without bond.
WMC-TV reports Young was the valedictorian of her high school and was a pre-med student at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. She was reportedly at the park on Saturday volunteering at the Breast Cancer Awareness Walk.
Young’s friend told WMC, “The joy she brought into every room was just contagious to everyone around her. Her bright future as a doctor was something she looked forward to for as long as I knew her. She was determined to change the world.”