Suspect killed in officer-involved shooting
A man is dead as the result of an officerinvolved shooting after Chattanooga police say he waved a gun and fired shots at homes early Monday morning.
Officers received a call just before 6:15 a.m. about a person walking in the 5000 block of 15th Avenue, displaying a firearm and firing at houses.
Upon arrival, officers located an armed male suspect matching the description given by the reporting party.
Officers engaged with the suspect and fired shots at him, causing life-threatening injuries, according to a news release. The suspect was taken to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries.
No officers were injured, Chattanooga Police Department spokeswoman Elisa Myzal confirmed.
The man’s name will be released after his family is notified, according to the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff’s office is handling the criminal investigation.
At noon Monday, police officers and Hamilton County sheriff’s deputies were still at the scene, and about a block-wide portion of East 50th Street and 15th Avenue was roped off with crime scene tape.
A slow, cold rain fell as investigators gathered evidence.
Nearby resident Skid More said he heard at least two shots fired at around 6 a.m.
More has lived in his house for 32 years, and he said that kind of violence isn’t typical for his neighborhood. But he’s not too concerned for his safety, he said.
Mary Ann Teem, on the other hand, has different thoughts. She’s lived in the area for
seven years.
“It was really calm when we first moved up here,” she said.
But, she said, security has gotten more concerning in recent years as new people have moved in.
Teem was asleep when the shots were fired, but she saw the flashing blue lights when she woke up.
“We mainly stay to ourself over here,” she said. “We don’t bother with none of this other mess.”
Just across the street, Carol Hughes feels the same way.
“You always feel that way, [concerned for safety],” she said. “But at least when they got the call, the police came on.”
Hughes, who has lived in the area since the 1960s, called police early Monday morning to ask what had happened. They were unable to give her details at the time, but she heard neighbors talking.
“They said the first one was around 6 [a.m.],” she said. “Then at 6:40 [a.m., a neighbor] told me that two shots woke her up.”
Additional details about what happened Monday morning have not been released, so it’s not yet clear how many shots were fired.
All the officers who responded to the call have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation, which is Chattanooga Police Department policy.
Results of the sheriff ’s office investigation will be sent to the Hamilton County district attorney’s office, which is standard practice.