Chattanooga police believe a group of 12 to 15 people has been responsible for the majority of the city's shootings in the last three weeks, Chief Fred Fletcher said Monday.
Four people were shot over the weekend in separate incidents across the city, and police believe at least three of those shootings are related to an ongoing feud between gang members and people associated with gangs.
The feud is not a traditional, one-gang-versus-another beef, Fletcher said. Rather, the individuals belong to multiple gangs, and the fight doesn't strictly follow gang alliances.
Chattanooga Police Chief Fred Fletcher talks about an ongoing feud between gangs that has resulted in several shootings, even threatening the lives of little children with the acts of violence.Weekend shootings
Sunday510 Central Drive, 3:30 a.m.: Justin Hawk, 29, told police he was standing in a parking lot on Central Drive when he got into a fight with an unidentified black man. The man shot him and Hawk ran away. His injury was not life-threatening.2700 Curtis St., 3:48 a.m.: Marcus McMillan, 19, was inside a home on Curtis Street when a vehicle drove by and several shots were fired. McMillan was not seriously injured.1300 Cypress St. Court, 9:16 a.m.: Kevin Williams, 19, told police he was walking with a friend on Cypress Street Court in College Hill Courts when an SUV with three black men inside drove by and someone started shooting. Williams was hit once. The injury was not life threatening.Monday1200 Poplar St., 5:50 a.m.: Blake Reid, 24, was hit in a drive-by shooting while at 1200 Poplar St. His injuries were not life-threatening.Source: Chattanooga Police Department
"What we're seeing here is a lot of mobility between traditional, organized gangs," Fletcher said. "People creating their own groups for their own purposes. We're working really hard to identify those purposes, those individuals and the reasons and motivations."
The drive-by shooting that injured two 4-year-old girls who were playing in a yard on Thursday also was a part of the feud, Fletcher said. There have been at least five drive-by shootings in Chattanooga since the beginning of June, and three this weekend alone.
Fletcher declined to say exactly which other shootings are related to the feud because of the ongoing investigation. He said police are closing in on suspects.
"We will go wherever we have to go to make sure our community is safe from future violent acts by this small group of brazen individuals," he said.
Two of the shootings this weekend happened in College Hill Courts, a public housing complex near downtown Chattanooga. One resident, who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation, said she was waiting outside her apartment to get a ride to church around 9 a.m. Sunday when someone opened fire.
She said she ran back inside when she heard three or four shots.
"They've been shooting back-to-back," she said. "Every five minutes someone does pop somebody. It's rough out here. It's getting worse."
The shooting she witnessed injured 24-year-old Blake Reid. None of the weekend's shooting victims sustained life-threatening injuries, according to police.
Police have not arrested suspects in any of the shootings, but Fletcher said investigators have identified the people involved. He could not say what sparked this particular feud.
"There are a number of motivations, always the same short list - respect, romantic interest, money, drugs," he said. "In this particular case, we're working really hard to identify the motivation."
The individuals who are involved in the feud will face the full force of the police department and the district attorney's office, Fletcher said, as part of the city's Violence Reduction Initiative, which calls for immediate, hard-handed action by police when gang and group members continue to shoot.
"Full enforcement will be applied and their punishments and sentences will be pushed to the fullest extent allowed by the law," Fletcher said.
The Violence Reduction Initiative, which was launched by Mayor Andy Berke in March 2014, also offers help to gang members who want to put down their guns. The initiative, aimed at reducing gun violence among gang members, had mixed results during its first year.
The pace of shootings so far in 2015 is just ahead of that of 2014 - there have been 60 shootings so far this year, while there had been 55 shootings at this point last year.
About half of those shootings - 34 this year, 35 in 2014 - were gang related, according to police.
Homicide numbers are also about the same, with 11 homicides so far this year compared to 14 by June 15 last year.
Contact staff writer Shelly Bradbury at 423-757-6525 or sbradbury@timesfreepress.com with tips or story ideas.
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