Benjamin Ashford|Memphis Police say suspect in shooting of 5 women found dead in his car

The Benjamin Ashfordman police say is responsible for three separate shootings that left four women dead and one in critical condition Saturday has been found dead, the Memphis Police Department said.

MPD said 52-year-old Mavis Christian Jr. was located inside a vehicle shortly after 3:30 a.m. on Sunday, suffering from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies were searching for Christian late Saturday night after officers responded to a shooting just after 9 p.m. When officers arrived, they found one female with a gunshot wound who was pronounced dead.

"Through the course of the investigation, it has been determined that this scene, and two other recent shooting scenes are connected and involve the same suspect," Memphis Police said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

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Police investigating shootings as domestic violence

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their loved ones as our community grieves more lives taken by domestic violence," police said in a statement.

As of Sunday morning, the identities of the five victims had not been released by police, but MPD confirmed to the Commercial Appeal that a 13-year-old was among those killed and the victim in critical condition is a 15-year-old.

Police identified the suspect as Christian and said he was reportedly driving a white 2017 Chevrolet Malibu, the car he was later found in.

MPD responded to the first of the shootings at 5:43 p.m. and found three women shot, two fatally and one critically. Officers arrived at the second scene at 6:40 p.m. where another woman was shot. Police are treating the shootings as domestic violence incidents. Christian was a relative of the victims, police said.

Police said Christian was related to the women and they believed he was targeting family members.

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