Much of the city was on edge Monday morning after reports surfaced that officers with the Germantown Police Department were pursuing two suspects involved in an alleged armed robbery attempt near Hacks Cross Road and Poplar Pike.
The Germantown Police Department announced Tuesday morning that Jaylin Pritchard, a 19-year-old from Collierville, and George Jinkins, 20, were arrested and charged with Aggravated Burglary, Simple Possession (marijuana), Firearm Use in Association with Dangerous Felonies, Criminal Attempt, Attempted First Degree Murder and Evading Arrest.
The suspects will appear in Germantown Municipal Court Wednesday night.
Bonds set for each suspect is as follows: Pritchard $175,000, Jinkins $200,000.
Germantown Elementary, Middle and High schools, along with Union University, were locked down around 10:30 a.m. on Monday.
Police reports indicate that a resident returned to his home on the 2500 block of Hacks Cross shortly after 10 a.m. and found an unfamiliar Chevrolet Impala in his driveway.
He parked his vehicle behind the car, which was unoccupied but running.
Reports state that he saw a black male on the northwest corner of the house.
The suspect reportedly raised his arm and fired “two to three gunshots” at the victim, who fired back once.
The suspect then fled.
A nearby witness on Dovie Lane stated that he heard multiple gunshots and saw two men running through a front yard on the 2600 block of Cedar Ridge Drive.
One of the two suspects dropped a gun and stopped to pick it up before jumping over a fence.
Deputy Chief of Police Rodney Bright confirmed that the home burglary attempt “escalated into shots being fired.”
No one was injured and the two suspects took off on foot toward Poplar Pike.
“We were able to get officers in the area right away,” Bright said. “We started receiving calls from neighbors close by saying that they may have seen the suspects running on foot.”
Germantown K-9 units went door-to-door as calls continued to come in regarding the suspects.
Pritchard was found hiding in a nearby backyard on Effingham Drive and Jinkins was caught just before 2 p.m. after being seen running through backyards near Buford Cove. Pritchard had a small bag of marijuana in his pocket.
Both suspects were captured south of where the attempted robbery occurred.
Lock down for the schools was lifted around 1:30 p.m.
Bright thanked the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department, the Collierville Police Department and the Memphis Police Department for dedicating resources to the search.
A crime scene investigation at the burglarized property determined that the residence was ransacked by the suspects.
An estimated $2,870 in property was stacked by the back door, including a handgun, a gun safe, a laptop, a television, a camera and an iPad.
