Building owner Towson Engsberg removes plywood covering from the former Alabama Furniture store at the corner of Dodson and Glass streets on Wednesday, April 22, 2015.Chattanooga police are still looking for a shooter who wounded two men on Glass Street on Tuesday night, one of whom would have died, if not for the quick actions of a responding officer.
Adrian Atkins, 35, and Vincent Houser, 37, were standing outside a business in the 2400 block of Glass Street when an unknown shooter fired at them, according to a release from the police department. Officers responded to a call about the shooting at 10:34 p.m. Tuesday.
When officers arrived on scene at Sandy’s Mini Market, they found Houser lying at the entrance to the store, but Officer Zack Crawford continued inside, following a trail of blood to the second victim. He said he finally found Atkins on the ground behind the counter, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds and bleeding profusely.
Crawford said when he saw Atkins, instincts from his five years in the military kicked in and he pounced on the man. He started stripping off his clothes to find the source of the bleeding and discovered a wound in his right leg where a bullet appeared to have nicked Atkins’ femoral artery.
Using what he learned from combat lifesaver school, he jammed an ungloved finger into the wound and started applying pressure to keep Atkins from bleeding to death.
“The only thing I had on me at the time were my hands,” Crawford said. “Most likely knowing it was an arterial bleed, you know, I just had to do what I had to do to save his life.”
Crawford held that pressure for at least five minutes while other officers cleared the scene for emergency crews, who then transported Atkins to Erlanger.
According to a spokesman with the Chattanooga Police Department, Dr. Matt Neal of Erlanger said Crawford’s actions saved Atkins’ life. He said Atkins would have been dead within two minutes without aid – long before EMS was able to arrive on scene.
Crawford has since been nominated by his supervisor to receive a life-saving award.
“This is the normal, quick thinking, and fast response under pressure that I have come to expect from Officer Crawford,” said another responding officer, Sgt. Gregory Wilhelm. “It is a job well done, and Mr Atkins survived due to it.”
Wednesday afternoon, another man was taken to the hospital after a separate shooting incident near the 2300 block of Windsor Street. According to a press release, police responded to the scene at 1 p.m. and found Darrius Justice, 22, suffering from a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.
Hamilton County Emergency Medical Services responded and transported the victim to a local hospital. The suspect is described as a black male driving a gold or silver SUV.
According to figures provided to the Chattanooga Times Free Press, as of last week, there had been 61 shootings in Chattanooga this year.
At press time, the police department could not provide any information about the person who shot Atkins and Houser. Anyone with information about the incident is encouraged to contact the police department at 423-698-2525.
Contact staff writer Emmett Gienapp at egienapp@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6731.