A blue rag turned purple with dried blood hangs on a chair and the front porch is dotted with more blood, reminders that a shooting here sent two youths to a hospital the night before.
Next to the red-brick house on North Hawthorne Street sits an empty lot, then a boarded-up, condemned house.
Neighbors contacted Wednesday said they didn’t know anything about the midnight shooting that police say was a drive-by and could be gang related.
The victims, both juveniles, were treated at Erlanger hospital. One was shot in the left foot, the other in the right leg as they fled from gunfire, Chattanooga police Sgt. Jerri Weary said in a news release.
Because the victims are juveniles, police will not release their names.
Neither juvenile lived at the residence, Sgt. Weary said.
“There supposedly was nothing leading up to that; they were just standing there,” said Sgt. Bill Phillips, head of homicide for the police department.
Police do not have a suspect but are looking for a black, newer-model four-door vehicle that passed the house twice after midnight before shooting.
This is the 16th shooting with injury in Chattanooga this year, and one community leader is outraged that more is not being done to address violence in Chattanooga.
“We’re in a crisis situation right now, and a lot of people don’t understand that,” said Hugh Reece, community outreach specialist with the Hamilton County Coalition, a safe neighborhoods group.
Mr. Reece doesn’t fault police but points to city and county leaders who he said should be doing more than holding meetings to address gang problems.
“It’s time to stop having meetings, it’s time to act,” he said. “You’ve got young people out there killing one another, homes being broken into. You’ve got elderly people afraid to leave their house.”
SHOOTINGS THIS YEAR
Jan. 2 — Body of Jimmy Yearby, 40, found in the middle of Sanders Road. He died of an apparent gunshot to the head.
Jan. 3 — Jeffrey Jones, 49, shot in the back at 952 N. Orchard Knob Ave. Kenneth L. Flint was charged in the shooting.
Jan. 9 — Jonathan Lawrence, 42, shot and killed while pumping gas at the Kanku’s at 3440 Wilcox Blvd. Montez Davis was charged with first-degree murder, reckless endangerment and illegal possession of a firearm.
Jan. 9 — Inah Garner, 29, shot in the finger during the crossfire of another shooting in which Montez Davis was involved.
Jan. 27 — Glen Bailey, 21, shot twice by his girlfriend’s brother at 2008 Bennett Ave.
Feb. 6 — Terry Marshall, 39, shot in the chest at 1501 Roanoke Ave.
Feb. 11 — Darius Robinson, 21, shot in the leg while driving past Kanku’s on Wilcox Boulevard.
Feb. 14 — Gweniqua Strickland, 22, shot in the abdomen, arm and leg while on the couch inside the home at 4115 Dorris St. Shots came from outside the residence.
Feb. 21 — Denzel Lloyd, 18, shot while walking to his car after a teen party at the Loose Cannon Art Gallery at 1900 Rossville Ave.
Feb. 21 — Minnie Moore, 77, grazed in the back and on her elbow by bullets that came from outside her home at 1900 Wilson St.
Feb. 27 — Terrance Etchison, 27, shot and killed at Kanku’s on Wilcox Boulevard.
Feb. 27 — Cecil Franklin Stodghill shot while bartending at the L G Lounge at 830 Dodson Ave.
March 13 — Juvenile shot in the left side of the neck while seated in an SUV at 4600 Rogers Road.
March 13 — 16-year-old male shot in the lower left leg at 1941 Heaton St.
March 16 — One juvenile shot in the left foot, another shot in the right leg at 1113 N. Hawthorne St.
Source: Newspaper archives
CALL CRIME STOPPERS
If you have any information about Wednesday’s shootings or any other crime in Chattanooga, you can make an anonymous call to the Crime Stoppers line at 698-3333.
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