Man pulls gun and is shot during Chattanooga police poker raid

Officers with a crime scene unit unpack next to the area where there was an officer-involved shooting off Gunbarrel Road around midnight on Thursday. A police raid on an illegal gambling operation ended with several shots fired and one individual wounded.

Photo by Jake Daniels.

Police shot a man in the torso after he pulled a gun during a raid of a high-stakes poker game late Thursday night, authorities said.

Police arrived at 1618 Gunbarrel Road, a nonresidential business area, around 9:50 p.m. to serve a search warrant, Chattanooga Police Chief Bobby Dodd said at the scene. When they arrived, there were 20 people, several of them local professionals, in the middle of a poker game, Dodd said.

Clifford Billups, 32, pulled a gun out and aimed it at police after they entered,Dodd said. Billups was shot once in the torso, Dodd said. He was taken to the hospital for treatment. Another four tried to leave but were taken into custody, while the other 15 suspects were kept inside the building, Dodd said.

The building featured four business suites owned by Kenny Higdon, who was taken into custody, Dodd said.

The poker game was a $1,000 buy-in, Dodd said. One of the players was a doctor and administered help after Billups was shot, Dodd said.

The suspects face misdemeanor charges for participating in the high-stakes poker game, Dodd said.