Local police are investigating Chattanooga's seventh homicide along with several unrelated crimes that occurred in the city and Red Bank on Thursday and early Friday.
Michael Johnson, 20, died late Friday as a result of a gunshot wound to the head he suffered during an apparent drive-by shooting on 27th Street Court early Thursday morning, said Sgt. Jerri Weary, a Chattanooga Police Department spokeswoman. She said no arrests have been made in the case.
In Chattanooga, a man was stripped, robbed and shot in the face and chest during a robbery while walking home early Friday. In a separate incident, a gunfight led to a 3-year-old child being struck by a car when his mother tried to take cover from the shots.
And, in Red Bank, a woman was shot in the leg during a home invasion late Thursday.
The home invasion "was not random," said Sgt. Dan Knight with the Red Bank Police Department.
"They went directly to this apartment," he said. "So we've got to figure out the relationship between the suspects and the victim."
About 9:40 p.m., three males wearing black hooded sweatshirts kicked in the door of an apartment at 127 Goodson Ave., entering the home of 28-year-old Latisha Halfacre, Sgt. Knight said. Ms. Halfacre lives in the apartment with her mother and younger sister, but her mother was gone at the time of the incident, he said.
One of the intruders demanded Ms. Halfacre's purse and, when she struggled with him, she was shot in the upper leg, Sgt. Knight said. She was taken to Erlanger hospital, where she was treated and released.
The three intruders, armed with a 9 mm handgun, fled with the purse, possibly driving a dark-colored Ford Sport Trac or Avalanche, he said.
Sgt. Knight said police have some leads and have gone back to the apartment to re-canvass the area, but no arrests had been made as of Friday.
About 8 p.m. Thursday in Chattanooga, a large fight with gunshots erupted near 4603 Kemp Drive, where a 3-year-old child standing in the driveway was hit by a car when his mother pulled in while trying to take cover from the gunfire, Sgt. Weary said.
Lia Baylor, 21, told police she was unaware her son was in the driveway when she drove into it, Sgt. Weary said.
The boy had nonlife-threatening cuts and abrasions from the accident and was taken to a local hospital, the sergeant said.
No charges have been filed against Ms. Baylor, and police still are looking into the fight and resulting shots fired, Sgt. Weary said.
Police had not determined a motive for the fight as of Friday, she said.
Also Thursday night, Chattanooga resident Stanley Dean, 38, was shot in the face and chest and robbed while walking about 2 a.m. through the alley between apartments at 1325 Cypress Street Courts, Sgt. Weary said. A 6-foot-3-inch man with a heavy build, wearing a dark mask and a dark, hooded sweatshirt, approached Mr. Dean and demanded his money, she said.
The man told Mr. Dean to remove his clothing, then shot him with a shotgun and took $300 before fleeing, Sgt. Weary said.
Mr. Dean then walked to a Grove Street apartment and called police, she said.
He was examined on-scene for what appeared to be nonlife-threatening injuries to the face and chest and later was taken to a local hospital, Sgt. Weary said.
Police would not reveal the hospital location to protect Mr. Dean from any possible further attack.
"We haven't found the suspect yet," Sgt. Weary said. "So we don't know ... there's always the potential for them to go and try to finish somebody off, and we don't want them to go and do that."