One validated gang member was killed and another two were injured in two shootings near the Ridgeside area on Thursday night that left police working the following day to piece together what happened.
Antonio Baldwin, 23, and William Daniel, 21, were found at the Pinewood Apartment complex on the 3300 block of Pinewood Avenue shortly after 7 p.m.
Both were taken to a local hospital for treatment, but Baldwin died during surgery, police said. His death marks the fifth homicide in Chattanooga this year.
Daniel survived, as did Eric Cal, 32, who sustained a minor gunshot wound in a separate shooting less than four hours later at a home on the 1000 block of Jarvis Avenue, about a mile from the first shooting.
A neighbor who lives on that street who asked to remain nameless for fear of retaliation said he and his wife heard four gunshots in quick succession.
"It was just pow, pow, pow, pow," he said.
He said his wife fell to the ground, but he walked to his front door and was in time to see and hear a teenager run from the home and yell to police that someone needed to stop Cal's bleeding.
"That's the second time that house has been shot in the last two, three weeks," the man said. "They're going wild."
On Friday afternoon, officers were working to conduct witness interviews at the scene of the first shooting and gathering evidence they could not get from the victims, who refused to cooperate when questioned, police said.
Elisa Myzal, a spokeswoman for the Chattanooga Police Department, said investigators are following all leads, but it is unclear whether the two shootings are connected.
"Right now, a connection is not being ruled out," she wrote in an email. "However, it's still very early in the investigation to say if it's definitely connected or not."
The residents of Pinewood Apartments aren't strangers to violence in their community - Geonta Gaines, 21, was shot in the back as he was getting into a car on Nov. 10. Officials said his injuries were serious, but he survived.
On Friday, Andy Ross was enjoying the sunny afternoon just a block away from the scene of the shooting with his three daughters, who were pedaling up and down the street on pink bicycles.
"I heard like eight or nine gunshots, right in a row," he said.
Ross looked out to see what he could after the shots and witnessed a silver, four-door sedan driving away from the scene down Pinewood Avenue, he said, adding that he was later told by police the suspect car was a silver Nissan.
He said he occasionally hears gunshots in the area, but he won't confine his children inside and away from their bikes.
"I'd certainly prefer to not have that happen, but I'm not going to change the way we let our kids play," he said.
Contact staff writer Emmett Gienapp at egienapp@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6731. Follow him on Twitter @emmettgienapp.