Officers stand at the intersection of Hoyt and Nellie streets Thursday while investigating a shooting that occurred on Pope Drive.Thursday was the kind of warm, blue-skied day where neighbors in Foxwood Heights took out their lawnmowers or tried to get some weeding done.
But by midafternoon, the residents around Pope Drive were distracted by yellow crime scene tape and police cars as investigators processed a scene where two people were shot during what police say appears to be a botched burglary.
Police say they were called to the small yellow house at 3009 Pope Drive on a reported burglary-in-progress about 1:30 p.m. But when they arrived, they found a 39-year-old bleeding man down the block on Nellie Street, Chattanooga Police spokesman Officer Nathan Hartwig said.
The man told police he was shot after his home was broken into and that he chased the burglars into the street. After he was taken to the hospital, investigators took photos of a .22-caliber rifle that apparently belonged to the man but now was lying in the street.
As police worked the scene, a 17-year-old boy showed up at a different hospital, suffering from a bullet wound, Hartwig said. As of 5 p.m. Thursday, the 39-year-old victim was in critical condition, and the 17-year-old was in stable condition, police said.
Names of the two have not been released.
Police would not confirm Thursday whether the shooting incidents were related, but the teenager arrived at the hospital only a short time after the reported burglary, police said, and no other crime scenes were established except for the one on Pope Drive.
As the afternoon stretched on, investigators combed the interior of the house, where they say the burglary victim was shot.
Ronald Madden, a friend of the 39-year-old, clustered with the man's family outside as they spoke with police.
"I really hope he is all right. No one deserves to be harmed in their own home," Madden said.
Neighbors said the Foxwood Heights neighborhood is quiet and established, populated with retired schoolteachers and city workers.
"This is the first time we've seen something like this," said Sean Hill, who has lived just around the corner from the crime scene for 45 years.
As Hill worked in his yard, he looked up at the crime scene and shook his head.
"This is a good neighborhood. We can't have anything like this."