Gerald Houston watched a TV anchorwoman say his name on the Tuesday evening news while he recalled a bullet ripping through his arm.
He was an innocent bystander, a man walking to get a beer after a few hours spent baby-sitting his girlfriend’s nephew early Monday morning. When he heard a commotion around the corner near his College Hills apartment, he saw a fight escalating between two men, he said.
“Dude said, ‘Oh, you’re going to pull a gun on me?'” said Mr. Houston, 51. “A bullet doesn’t have eyes. First shot hit me in the arm.”
Gauze covered Mr. Houston’s right bicep Tuesday afternoon, minutes after Chattanooga police announced the arrest of a 16-year-old boy suspected of shooting him and Robbie Bell at 814 E. 14th St. Court.
The unidentified boy is charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault. Police do not identify juvenile suspects.
According to police department spokeswoman Sgt. Jerri Weary, the 1:30 a.m. shooting happened after an argument over a woman between Mr. Bell, 31, and the shooter. Mr. Bell was taken to a local hospital after being shot three times in the thigh, she said.
“His name is hot out here,” Mr. Houston said. “I think somebody was trying to get him.”
Mr. Houston said he spent 20 minutes waiting for an ambulance and at least an hour in the waiting room at Erlanger hospital before he was examined. The bullet cut through his skin, missing bones and major blood vessels, he said.
“God took care of me with this wound,” he said. “I could have been dead.”
Mr. Houston, a cleanup crew member for the Chattanooga Lookouts, said he might have to miss a few days of work after the team returns home from a road trip on June 22.
Another shooting incident Monday morning involved Marvin Davis Jr., 21, as he drove away from the Waffle House on Brainerd Road about 3 a.m. Mr. Davis told police he never saw the gunman who shot him in the leg.
Mr. Davis was taken to a local hospital, treated and released, police said. No arrests have been made in that case.
One man who knows Mr. Bell said he wonders why incidences such as the two Monday night don’t happen more often. He believes those in positions of power should view both shootings as the latest wake-up call.
“You’ve got 13- and 14-year-olds walking around here with guns,” said Kippy Mac as he shared beer and cigarettes with friends near the doorstep of his College Hills residence. “They think it’s cute to shoot somebody. They’re bored. Give them something to do.”