Emergency medical services remove the body of a man found shot to death early Saturday morning while a wrecker waits to remove his vehicle. A man was discovered shot to death in his vehicle at a gas station at the corner of Shallowford Road and North Moore Road early Saturday morning. The shooting was believed to have occurred elsewhere on Shallowford.The crook of the L-shaped Briarcliff Way was full of cars Saturday afternoon.
A somber-looking group of people mingled outside the house where Chainessa Cummings' brother Quincy Bell lived. As Cummings stood in the street, away from the group, a man driving by leaned out his window and said, "Keep your head up."
Bell, 20, who was Cummings' older brother, was found shot inside his vehicle outside the Kangaroo gas station at the corner of Shallowford Road and North Moore Road shortly before 4 a.m. Saturday. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they believe Bell was shot in the 3800 block of Shallowford Road and drove to the gas station where his body was found.
Bell's death is the first fatality of the four shootings that occurred in Chattanooga last week.
Cummings said she wasn't sure of anything about the situation surrounding her brother's death, including whether he was targeted.
"It's hurtful," she said. "It don't seem real."
Cummings described Bell as funny and well liked, and a loving father to his young two sons, Quincy Bell Jr. and LaDarius Keyshawn Bell. She could not point to a single thing that she would miss most about her brother.
"Just him, period," she said. "We've been through a lot together."
Bell had been arrested multiple times by Chattanooga police, according to court records.
In 2010, he was sentenced to 11 months, 29 days in jail for assault. Bell was arrested Sept. 7 on charges of criminal trespass and had an Oct. 1 court date. In June, he was arrested on charges of criminal trespass, evading arrest and unlawful carrying or possessing a weapon. He was arrested and charged with an additional count of criminal trespass in July.
Police sources said Bell was a validated member of the Bloods gang. He also was one of five people wounded in March 2010 when shots were fired into a crowd of people outside Coolidge Park, according to Times Free Press archives.
Bell is the 17th homicide in 2012 and the fourth shooting since Sept. 19.
The first shooting happened Wednesday at 6317 Walden Ave. Barry Bowman, 22, was shot in the head in a gang-related shooting. Police said Bowman was taken to the hospital and was listed in critical condition Thursday.
The two other shootings occurred Friday.
Two people were taken to the hospital after a shooting near Sandy's Mini Mart on Glass Street about 1:30 a.m. James Jenkins, 25, and an unidentified 25-year-old witness were shot.
Thirteen hours later, police responded to a second shooting. Antonio Jackson, 20, was shot on the corner of Pisgah Avenue and Spring Garden Lane after an argument, according to Chattanooga police. Jackson was taken to the hospital.. Police arrested a 15-year-old boy and charged him with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
It is unknown if the shootings were linked or gang-related, police said.