Five charged in connection to shooting of Memphis police officer, officer released from hospital

Five people have been charged in connection to the shooting of a Memphis police officer during a Friday morning traffic stop, the department said in a press release.

Geronimo Kee, the 22-year-old accused of firing multiple shots at the officer, was charged with attempted first-degree murder, intentionally evading arrest in a vehicle, employing a firearm during a dangerous felony and speeding.

Four others, Zaire Kee, Tezaree Pennington, Kennedy Williams and Malik Oliver, were charged with accessory after the fact, the Memphis Police Department said in the statement.

The officer, since identified as 2nd Lt. Bobby Johnson, was released from the hospital Friday and is recovering from his injuries. Johnson was the original officer to pull Kee over.

The affidavit for Kee's arrest said Johnson saw a car driving 81 miles per hour in a 55-mile-per-hour zone, and he pulled the car over in a marked MPD squad car.

The affidavit explained why Johnson went back to his squad car to write the speeding ticket.

"When 2nd Lt. Bobby Johnson went back to the driver and asked him to sign the citation, Mr. Kee refused and rolled his window up," the affidavit read. "2nd Lt. Johnson requested additional backup and advised Mr. Kee several times that if he did not sign the ticket he would be taken to jail. Mr. Kee would only roll his window down enough to speak with 2nd Lt. Johnson."

According to the affidavit, Johnson spoke with Kee for the next 14 minutes, trying to convince Kee to sign the speeding ticket.

"Mr. Kee made the statement, 'You're going to have to kill me,' several times during this encounter," the affidavit read.

More back and forth took place, with Johnson ultimately telling Kee that he would be under arrest and that Johnson would have to break his window to place Kee in custody, if he continued to refuse to sign the ticket, the affidavit read.

"Mr. Kee refused to get out of the vehicle to sign the citation yet again," it said. "2nd Lt. Johnson then broke the driver's side door window and Mr. Kee fired several shots, striking 2nd Lt. Johnson multiple times. Officer Forrest [who had arrived as backup on the stop] fired back at Mr. Kee in defense of 2nd Lt. Johnson. Mr. Kee sped off southbound on 240 South."

The Nissan that Kee was alleged to have been driving was found abandoned on a South Memphis street, and police said there was blood on the armrest of the car and the rear window had been shot.

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An apartment where Kee's girlfriend lived was found and surveilled by detectives. When two men left the apartment, officers detained them and then knocked on the door.

"A male answered the door and investigators saw Geronimo Kee standing in the entryway," the affidavit said. "They arrested Mr. Kee and detained the occupants of the apartment. Geronimo Kee appeared to have a gunshot wound to his hand and was transported to the Regional One Medical Center."

Johnson later identified Kee in a six-person photo lineup, the affidavit read.

Kee is currently being held at the Shelby County Jail on a $175,000 bail and has a bail hearing scheduled for Tuesday morning.

Affidavits for the four people also charged in connection to the shooting said Kee had called Pennington, his mother, along with Zaire Kee and Milk Oliver to tell them he was "just in a shoot out with the police."

When detectives called Pennington to ask about Geronimo Kee, the affidavit said she told detectives she was not aware of what had happened and had not heard from her son.

The three then drove to Walgreens to get first aid materials for Geronimo Kee. Geronimo Kee also called Williams, his girlfriend, to tell her about what had happened, according to the affidavit.

According to the affidavit, Williams called an Uber for Kee to bring him to her apartment. When he arrived, the four helped with Kee's hand injury until they were ultimately arrested.

Pennington was given a $50,000 bail, Zaire Kee was given a $45,000 bail, Oliver was given a $25,000 bail and Williams was given a $5,000 bail. All four have since posted that bail.

Lucas Finton is a criminal justice reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at Lucas.Finton@commercialappeal.com, or (901) 208-3922 and followed on X, formerly known as Twitter, @LucasFinton.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Five charged in connectoin to shooting of MPD officer in traffic stop