Almost four months after a lone gunman attacked the U.S. Naval and Marine Reserve Center on Amnicola Highway and killed five U.S. service members, the sound of a gunshot echoed there again Wednesday.
But the Marines inside the reserve center didn’t feel threatened – the noise was away from the building.
“None of us felt like it was anything directed at us,” said Marine Capt. Chris Cotton.
Still, both the Marines and someone nearby at Chattanooga State Community College called police to report the sound – sending dozens of Chattanooga police officers wailing to the site in bulletproof vests, toting assault rifles, once again responding to the report of “shots fired” at the reserve.
First responders blocked the entrance and members of the Chattanooga Police Department’s SWAT team moved through the military complex with a police dog. Dozens of police cars lined the shoulder of Amnicola Highway and officers stood in tight circles not far from the memorials for the men who died July 16.