Officers said a man was taken into custody after a search at the Greenline Apartments uncovered marijuana, guns and cash.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A shots-fired call at the Greenline Apartments on North Highland Street late Tuesday led the Memphis Safe Task Force to a unit where officers later seized about 90 pounds of marijuana and several firearms, and arrested a 29-year-old resident, authorities said.
The case matters because it started as a routine response to gunfire and quickly turned into a large drug and weapons seizure at an apartment complex near the High Point Terrace area. The Memphis Safe Task Force said its officers moved from a welfare check to a court-approved search after seeing a handgun in “plain view” inside the unit. Investigators say the find adds to an already busy week of gunfire calls in the city and highlights how a single shooting report can open a wider probe into drugs and weapons on neighborhood blocks.
Officers were sent to North Highland Street on Tuesday night, Jan. 13, after reports of shots fired. When they arrived, they found the front window of one unit struck multiple times by gunfire. Police knocked several times to check on anyone inside, then entered to look for “signs of life” when no one answered, according to a task force summary. Inside, they met 29-year-old Dontario Woody, who told officers he lived there. “The goal was to make sure no one was hurt,” an officer said in the report, explaining the quick welfare check. A handgun was visible in the room, the task force noted, setting off the next steps in the investigation.
Seeing the gun led officers to seek a search warrant for the apartment. After the warrant was issued, investigators said they found two more handguns and more than a pound of marijuana in the unit. A follow-up search by task force agents turned up what they later tallied as roughly 90 pounds of packaged marijuana, six firearms in total and about $5,000 in cash. Police identified Woody as the person taken into custody from the apartment. Officials did not report any injuries from the earlier gunfire. They did not immediately identify other people linked to the seized items or say whether they believe the gunfire was tied to the drugs.
The Greenline Apartments sit along North Highland Street near the Shelby Farms Greenline trail and the High Point Terrace neighborhood, an area where residents have complained in recent months about sporadic gunfire tied to disputes at or near apartment complexes. Police have increased patrols and formed targeted teams like the Memphis Safe Task Force to respond to repeat calls. In this case, the task force’s first focus was the shooting scene—a window peppered with rounds—before the discovery inside shifted the case toward a larger drug and weapons investigation. Officers noted the apartment’s front room and a bedroom were the main areas searched under the warrant.
Investigators said Woody was booked on a $15,000 bond. Additional charges could be added as testing and cataloging of the firearms and marijuana are completed, according to police. Detectives are reviewing security camera footage from the complex and surrounding businesses to determine who fired the shots into the window on Jan. 13. As of Friday, no shooter had been publicly identified. Police also have not disclosed serial-number checks on the guns or whether any were reported stolen, and they have not released a final weight for the marijuana beyond the approximate 90-pound estimate made at the scene.
What happens next includes lab testing of the marijuana, a trace on each firearm and a review by prosecutors on potential felony counts related to drug possession with intent to distribute and unlawful firearm possession. If charges are upgraded or expanded, a first appearance in Shelby County court would follow, with dates to be set early this week. Police said case files will include the warrant return, photographs of the interior and the packaging, and evidence logs from the task force. Officers also plan to canvass residents in adjacent units for information about the gunfire and any visitors seen entering the apartment before the shots were reported.
In brief interviews Wednesday and Thursday, neighbors described a rush of squad cars and tape around the building after the shots. One resident said she heard “three or four pops” before officers arrived. Another described officers moving methodically from door to door before focusing on the ground-floor unit with the damaged window. “They kept asking if everyone was okay,” said a neighbor who declined to be named, adding that crews stayed several hours while evidence techs photographed the scene and boxed items from inside.
As of Sunday, the task force reported the seized marijuana and firearms had been logged and transferred to evidence, and the apartment unit remained secured pending repairs to the damaged window. The next major update is expected once lab tests and serial-number traces are complete or if police identify a suspect in the shooting that started the call.
Author note: Last updated January 18, 2026.