A Chattanooga man was shot in a fight shortly after noon Sunday, becoming the city's third shooting victim in less than 12 hours.
Police said late Sunday night that Justin Hawk, 29, told them he was in the parking lot at 510 Central Drive when he began fighting with a man he didn't know and was shot. Hawk ran away into the woods and later was taken in a personal vehicle to the hospital, police said. His injuries were not life-threatening.
The day's first shooting was at 3:48 a.m. when Marcus Miller, 19, was shot from a moving vehicle while he was outside a residence in the 2700 block of Curtis Street. He was wounded and taken to the hospital by personal vehicle, police said.
Then, around 9 a.m. Sunday, 19-year-old Kevin Williams was walking in Cypress Street Court in the College Hill Courts public housing site when someone in a moving SUV fired shots, wounding him, police said.
Residents said it was the second shooting incident since midnight in a neighborhood where violence is common.
"They were shooting at 2 a.m. and shooting after 9 a.m. As soon as the kids got on the church bus and the church bus pulled off, they started shooting again," said a mother who sat on a back porch near the site of the morning shooting.
The mother said her only son was shot and killed in 2013 on Grove Street, across from the housing site. She asked to be anonymous because she is still concerned about retaliation.
Witnesses told police an unknown person in an SUV drove and started shooting. Gunfire wounded an unidentified male. Initial reports state there are other possible victims but none have been reported, according to the police news release.
Police did not say whether the shootings were thought to be related.
Horatio Tertremayne Williams said Sunday afternoon that he talked to the victim, who was in the parking lot when he got a "butt graze" from the flying bullet.
Another College Hill Courts resident sitting on his porch near where the shooting occurred said the housing site would have less violence if the Chattanooga Housing Authority better screened tenants.
"It's up to the people in authority. If they paid more attention and scrutinized the residents, these people wouldn't be out here," said the man, who also asked for anonymity for fear of retaliation.
Chattanooga Police ask anyone with information about these shootings to call 423-698-2525. The investigations are ongoing.
Contact staff writer Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6431.