Slain off-duty MPD officer identified - WMC Action News 5 - Memphis, Tennessee

A Memphis police officer died after he was shot in Cordova on Sunday afternoon. MPD Director Toney Armstrong identified the officer as Terence Olridge, 31.

Olridge was off duty when someone shot him multiple times in the 2600 block of Longshadow Lane just before 1 p.m. He was taken to Regional Medical Center in critical condition, but doctors pronounced him dead a short time later.

Armstrong stated that a man is in custody for the shooting, but what led up to the shooting is unclear at this time. As of Monday morning, the suspect had not been charged with any crime.

Click here to see blue lights left on in honor of our fallen officers.

Olridge became a Memphis Police Department officer in September 2014. He was assigned to Airways Station after graduating from MPD's 118th recruiting class.

"He has a fiancée that is four months pregnant right now,” Armstrong said. “His mother is here. His entire family is here. His entire shift is here."

Armstrong said the investigation into Olridge's shooting death is just beginning; they have more questions than answers.

"It just doesn't get any easier," Armstrong said. "I didn't think we would be here again so soon."

Olridge is the fourth MPD officer shot and killed in the last four years. Timothy Warren was killed in 2011; Martoiya Lang was killed in 2012; Sean Bolton was killed in August 2015. Olridge is the only one who was not on duty at the time of the shooting.

"Pray for him [Officer Olridge], his family, and the department and the city,” Mayor A C Wharton added.

Mayor-elect Jim Strickland released a statement about the death:

"Today, the collective heart of the city is broken.  My prayers go out to the family and friends of Officer Olridge."

Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell also expressed his condolences:

"All of us at Shelby County Government express our sympathy about the tragic death of Officer Terence Olridge. 

We are keeping his family and his fellow officers with the Memphis Police Department in our thoughts and prayers."

Neighbors on Longshadow Lane said they heard as many 15 gunshots. When they came outside, Olridge was lying in his driveway, shot several times.

"It's kind of frightening a little bit, stuff like this," neighbor Jacob Austin said. "You're not really safe anywhere."

Police took a neighbor, who lives across the street, into custody. It is not clear what caused the shooting, but neighbors said the suspect caused disputes in the neighborhood.

"I'm not really surprised something bad happened," neighbor Karen Lax said.

Lax said she witnessed the suspect become extremely angry with another neighbor when the neighbor's dog defecated in his yard.

"He was just going at him and at him. He was right up on top of him, like come on. I can't say what he called him. It was like come on mother trucker."

Lax said the suspect is married with a 9-year-old son.

"He shot that man a man that lived here trying to protect us, and it made no sense to me whatsoever," Lax said.

The suspect's sister said someone pulled a gun on him earlier in the day. She said her brother was washing his car when he got into an argument with Olridge.

Copyright 2015 WMC Action News 5. All rights reserved.