MEMPHIS, Tenn. — An arrest has been made in connection to a fatal double shooting at a South Memphis rock-climbing gym, and one of the victims has been identified as an employee and mountain climber.
Farris Haley, 28, was arrested near the scene of the shooting Sunday. Haley is currently booked on charges of tampering with evidence and resisting arrest, though not with charges directly related to the shooting.
Memphis Police said that both the suspect and victim are deceased. “They both exchanged fire,” MPD said in an email.
Police say when they arrived at the gym on McLemore, they found two men shot, and a loaded pistol nearby. Haley was at the scene near one of the victims.
Police say they detained Haley, but he broke away from them, re-entered the crime scene, grabbed the pistol, and ran to an awaiting vehicle. Another officer was able to take him to the ground.
A close relative confirmed Monday that Jarmond Johnson, 25, was killed in the shooting Sunday at the Memphis Rox climbing gym in Soulsville.
The relative said Johnson worked there for years, and had traveled all over climbing mountains, including to Africa and Antarctica.
Johnson started climbing to get his life on track, the relative said. He worked all kinds of jobs and worked for everything he had.
He said Johnson kept people calm, knew how to talk to people, never wanted conflict or fighting, and was a peaceful person who had a child on the way.
“Hit so hard because he was such a good person,” said the relative, who called Johnson “something special.”
Johnson and another man were killed Sunday afternoon after a fight turned into a shooting at the gym on McLemore. The other person has not been identified.
Memphis Rox confirmed in a Facebook post that one of the victims was an employee. They said the nonprofit gym would be closed Monday as they process their grief.
WREG is working to find out more about this incident.