Chattanooga Times Free Press

Ongoing conf lict sparked shooting

- BY ROSANA HUGHES STAFF WRITER

A shooting last week was sparked by a long-running conflict between the suspect and victim, according to Hamilton County court records.

Tommy Couch Sr. was arrested Friday after he allegedly shot a 45-year-old woman three times, including once in the head, arm and side, on Friday morning.

Hamilton County sheriff’s deputies arrived at the home in the 200 block of Coleman Road in Soddy-Daisy at 7:23 a.m. Friday. They spoke to a witness who said the woman banged on his door at around 7 a.m. and asked him to call 911.

Before she was taken to the hospital, the woman told deputies she was shot by Couch while she was asleep and she thought he was after her EBT card.

Deputies then found Couch coming out of his house — the woman’s EBT card in his possession — and took him into custody for questionin­g. He agreed to speak to detectives and admitted to intentiona­lly shooting the woman, to whom he is not related.

He told detectives they’d been arguing the night before over “her contributi­ons to the house.” She’d also repeatedly threatened to have his son, who is in jail, and his daughter killed if Couch didn’t continue

giving her money and providing her with a car.

Couch had “basically had enough,” he told detectives. So he shot her with a .22-caliber revolver and hid the weapon in an abandoned green Lincoln on his property, he said.

Detectives recovered the revolver.

Couch was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder and especially aggravated robbery. He was booked into the Hamilton County Jail late Friday night where his bond was set at $200,000.

Contact Rosana Hughes at rhughes@timesfreep­ress.com or 423-757-6327 with tips or story ideas. Follow her on Twitter @HughesRosa­na.

 ??  ?? Tommy Couch Sr.
Tommy Couch Sr.

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