Guns are banned in Chattanooga parks, and police say that helped avoid further problems in a weekend shooting at Coolidge Park that injured five people.
"I don't even want to imagine what would have happened," Chattanooga police Chief Freeman Cooper said of permitted gun owners being allowed to carry weapons in the park. During the Saturday night shooting, an estimated 250 people fled in a panic as shots were fired.
The chief said it's hard enough for police to identify why someone is shooting or carrying a weapon, and officers did not fire in the crowd Saturday for that reason.
Security cameras from the park show groups of people at times running and at other times walking in and out of the frame as police lights flash in the background.
Good guys and bad guys don't wear signs saying who they are, police said.
"All you know is that is somebody with a gun in their hand. And you have less than a quarter of a second to make a decision as to whether or not you kill that person or that person kills you," said Chattanooga police Deputy Chief Mark Rawlston.
Deputy Chief Rawlston spoke with the Times Free Press editorial board, accompanied by Hamilton County District Attorney Bill Cox, Sheriff Jim Hammond and law enforcement personnel from across the state.
The group is speaking with Tennessee media in a push to pass legislation that would enhance penalties on certain crimes and address district attorney staffing concerns.
In Soddy-Daisy permit holders are allowed to carry a concealed handgun in parks. Mayor Gene Shipley voted for the measure, and he said if criminals think other weapons might be present they'll be less likely to use their own weapons.
"I don't know if they're qualified to fire a firearm in a crowd like that, but the presence of a weapon may scare someone off ... " he said.