Felon charged in officer’s shooting can’t afford bond

By Adrian Sainz, Associated Press

Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2015 | 8:03 a.m.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A convicted felon charged in the fatal shooting of an off-duty Memphis police officer told a judge Tuesday that he can't afford his $100,000 bond or an attorney.

Authorities said Lorenzo Clark, 36, got into an argument Sunday with his neighbor, Terence Olridge, 31, who was headed into to work. The altercation in the normally quiet Memphis suburb of Cordova escalated into an exchange of gunfire, and Olridge was shot multiple times and died at a hospital, authorities said.

Clark is charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

Shelby County General Sessions Judge Gerald Skahan asked Clark whether he had any questions during his first court appearance and Clark responded, "No."

Details about what prompted the altercation are still unclear and Memphis police spokesman Louis Brownlee said he had no updates on the investigation on Tuesday.

Brownlee has declined to say whether more charges would be filed.

Clark told police he had a 9mm Glock handgun in his pants, took the gun out and started firing several shots in the street, according to an affidavit. Clark fired "several shots which resulted in a death," the affidavit said.

After the shooting, Clark surrendered peacefully, police said.

Clark was sentenced to just under 2 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon and unlawful possession of a weapon in a public place in March 2003, Shelby County court records show.

Olridge is one of four Memphis officers who have been shot to death in just over four years and the second to be fatally shot in less than three months.

Olridge, who joined the department in September 2014, had a fiancee who is four months pregnant, Memphis Police Director Toney Armstrong said.

In August, Memphis police officer Sean Bolton was fatally shot in the line of duty. Police have charged 29-year-old Tremaine Wilbourn, who was on probation for an armed bank robbery, with first-degree murder in Bolton's death.

Officer Tim Warren was killed while responding to a shooting at a downtown Memphis hotel in July 2011. In December 2012, Officer Martoiya Lang was killed while serving a warrant.