Arrest made after shooting at East Memphis shopping center

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - 18 years old and charged with attempted murder—again. The man arrested for a shooting at Eastgate Shopping Center on Saturday is no stranger to Memphis police.

Action News 5 has learned that before Tyshaun Wear unloaded his weapon in a crowded parking lot over the weekend, he had first been arrested for attempted murder five months ago.

Officers were called to the scene on Park Avenue right around noon.

Terrified shoppers ducked for cover in the parking lot of Eastgate while employees at Mellow Mushroom hit the deck, too, when the gunfire started.

“I saw a bunch of people running under tables like it was tornado drill,” said a man who works at the pizza restaurant.

Once there, officers were informed two shooting victims arrived at St. Francis Hospital--one shot in the shoulder, and the other shot in the thigh. A third person was shot at, but not injured.

A victim told police his Infiniti Q50 was stolen and he tracked it to the Eastgate parking lot; while trying to block the suspects from leaving, the people inside the stolen car began firing shots.

The shots hit two victims and went into the nearby Pep Boys, shattering a window.

“That’s pretty much it,” said the Mellow Mushroom employee, “We came outside, and bullet holes everywhere. Dude was on the ground. We thought he was dead.”

Officers tracked down the stolen vehicle and gave chase. Police say Wear, the driver, crashed into a fence and was later caught on foot.

Police say the stolen Q50 was used in five car break-ins in the area prior to the shooting.

Wear is charged with three counts of attempted first-degree murder, six counts of possessing a firearm during a dangerous felony, aggravated assault, 11 counts of vandalism, theft of property, four counts of burglary of a vehicle, attempted burglary, evading arrest, reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident, failure to exercise due care, no driver license, duty upon striking highway fixture and violation of financial law.

But this is not the first time Tyshaun Wear has been charged with attempted murder.

Wear was arrested for aggravated robbery and attempted first-degree murder back in September when he was accused of trying to kill a DoorDash driver.

That case was dropped because the sole victim who was set to testify never showed up, according to the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office. They released this statement on that case:

Yet the affidavit for that case indicated Wear confessed the crime to police. MPD said, “Wear gave a statement of admission on firing shots [at the driver] and later taking the 2017 Chevrolet Impala.”

And that wasn’t even his first arrest.

Documents obtained by Action News 5 show Wear was arrested in August 2022 and charged with stealing a Hyundai Elantra.

During that run from police, MPD said Wear was “driving erratically at a high rate of speed” when he “lost control and struck a building.”

Despite those earlier run-ins with the law, Wear was back on the street last Saturday, and according to MPD, armed and dangerous.

“The system worked how the system worked,” said the Mellow Mushroom worker. “It’s jacked up. You feel me?”

Both of Saturday’s shooting victims are recovering.

Right now, Wear’s bond is set at $150,000, but his bail review hearing is Tuesday, March 28, and that could change. 

Action News 5 will follow this case and let you know what the Shelby County criminal justice system decides.

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