Weekend of violence
Four shootings injure six people in Chattanooga over 31 hours
In this file photo, David Kennedy, right, listens as Mayor Andy Berke fields questions at a March 2014 press conference inside City Hall to address gang violence. Kennedy is the architect of the Violence Reduction Initiative, and is quoted as saying that residents should be able to tell fairly quickly if the strategy isn’t working. The rate of shootings in Chattanooga is basically unchanged year-over-year.A week of shootings
Oct. 20 – 2300 Wilson Street – Apprentice Dewayne Berry, 20, is shot multiple times and dies from his injuries around 11 p.m.Oct. 22 – 404 Tunnel Blvd. – At 1:21 p.m., Kenny Hall, 24, was shot multiple times and died from his injures.Oct. 22 – 4628 Oakwood Drive – At 4:54 p.m., a 17-year-old boy and 16-year-old girl were each shot once. Potential suspects were taken into custody at the time. The injuries were not life-threatening.Oct. 25 – 1406 Carousel Road – At 9:11 p.m., Travis Rivers, 22, and Zachary Spralling, 21, were shot and suffered minor and not life-threatening injuries. The suspect vechicle was described as burgandy.Oct. 26 – 1205 Grove Street – At 3 a.m., two people, Nathan James Reese, 30, and Anthony Dijaun Visher, 20, were found suffering from gunshot wounds. Both were in critical condition a day after the shooting.Oct. 26 – 202 W. 38th Street – At 3 p.m., police found Kevin LeVerne Smith, 41, suffering from a gunshot wound that was not life-threatening. Nadia Renee Hatten/Brooks, 37, was charged with attempted first-degree murder in what police called a domestic violence incident.Oct. 27 – Central Avenue – At 4:10 a.m., police found shooting victim Terrence Lebron Bivens, 28, dead on Central Avenue.Source: Chattanooga Police Department
In a seven-day span that ended Monday, 10 people were shot in Chattanooga and three of them died in one of the most violent weeks of 2014.
The spate of gun violence put a spotlight on the city’s Violence Reduction Initiative, the mayor’s flagship public safety effort that was rolled out in March amid optimism and high expectations.
But eight months after city leaders, police and community members started using VRI to target violent gang members, the city’s violent crime numbers haven’t budged.