Memphis, Tenn. — Five people died and three others were hurt after an early Sunday crash at Hickory Hill and East Raines roads that involved a Memphis Police Department patrol vehicle, authorities said.
The collision happened shortly after 12:25 a.m. while two Memphis Police officers were responding to a call near Flowering Peach Drive and Mendenhall Road. A patrol vehicle and a civilian vehicle collided at the intersection next to Zion CME Church in the Hickory Hill neighborhood.
One vehicle carried two Memphis Police officers. The other carried six people. Four people in the civilian vehicle were pronounced dead at the scene, and a fifth occupant later died at a hospital. A sixth person from that vehicle remained in critical condition. The two officers were taken to a hospital in critical condition and were released later.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol is leading the investigation, which is standard when Memphis police officers are involved in a serious crash. Investigators have not released a cause. Names of the people who died had not been released in the first public updates.
Mayor Paul Young said five young people lost their lives and asked Memphis to keep the families in thought as they face the days ahead. Loved ones of those involved asked for privacy while the reconstruction continues.
Hickory Hill sits in southeast Memphis inside the City of Memphis. Residents near the intersection said they heard a loud impact around 12:30 a.m. Debris and damaged vehicles remained at the scene hours later as the Tennessee Highway Patrol Critical Incident Response Team worked the reconstruction.
