It was a year in which Chattanooga was enmeshed in a handful of stories with national and international implications, but our voters and staff agreed: the top story of 2015 was the July 16 attack on two Chattanooga military installations by a lone shooter who seemed to have been influenced by a foreign terrorist organization. The event also made a broader top stories list, voted by The Associated Press as the top story in Tennessee.
Below are the top area stories of 2015 as chosen by Times Free Press voters and editors:
1. July 16 Chattanooga shooting
A 24-year-old Muslim gunman attacked two military sites in Chattanooga on July 16, killing five U.S. service members. The attack, which federal investigators say was inspired by a foreign terrorist organization, prompted a national debate about how to protect members of the nation’s armed forces, and thrust Chattanooga into a national spotlight as the city mourned and healed.