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Chattanooga: Police seek more details in fatal shooting

By: Jacqueline Koch
(Contact)

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Kim Noorbergen

It’s a scene that has played out before at Chattanooga crime scenes — shots are fired, people are wounded and few residents talk to police.

This time, a shooting late Tuesday morning in the 1900 block of Southern Street around the Harriet Tubman homes killed one man and left two injured after a man got out of a gold Nissan Altima and fired shots at two men sitting on a front porch, police said.

Lafredrick Collier, 34, died Tuesday at Erlanger hospital, which was on lockdown for part of Tuesday afternoon after some family members and friends of those involved began fighting, officials said. City and county officers were called to maintain security at the location, spokeswoman Christine Gordon said.

“Erlanger continues to accept patients at the Erlanger Baroness Campus,” she said in a statement. “However, officials are taking extra security measures in cooperation with local city and county law enforcement.”

The shooting suspect was taken to Erlanger with a gunshot wound to his neck after police found him at a residence in the 3200 block of Conner Street, said Lt. Tim Carroll, head of the Chattanooga Police Department major crimes division.

The conditions and identities of the suspect and another man involved had not been released as of early Tuesday evening.

Police know residents heard shots, but few came forward to offer more than small details, a trend seen after many recent violent incidents, department spokeswoman Lt. Kim Noorbergen said. Police still were attempting to sort through details and motives late Tuesday afternoon, she said.

“It’s like, ‘Here we go again,’” she said. “It seems like we’re getting more and more of this. We’re on the scene here, we have several people standing around, but no one seems to know anything.”

Neighbors hesitated to talk to police and the media, saying they feared retaliation against themselves and their family if they were seen giving information to anyone. A woman who moved onto Southern Street on Friday said she was moving out as soon as possible.

Chattanooga police officers — some of whom were attending a regional homicide conference in the city — anticipate winter, when they expect the number of crimes and shootings to drop as temperatures do. They also hope residents will start providing information, even if they call the department anonymously, Lt. Noorbergen said.

“We’re hoping the community will start cooperating with us and witnesses will come forward, and maybe we can put some of this to rest,” she said.

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