Shooting shatters city’s sense of innocence

Chattanooga Police Chief Fred Fletcher, shown in an editorial board meeting at the Times Free Press, praised his officers Thursday for their actions in making sure "no further loss of life happened." Chattanooga Police Chief Fred Fletcher, shown in an editorial board meeting at the Times Free Press, praised his officers Thursday for their actions in making sure "no further loss of life happened."

By Times Free Press Staff July 17, 2015 1 min read

The loss of the city’s innocence, for the moment, is deafening.

Chattanooga, which has been on top-10 lists of United States cities for coolness, beauty, Bible-mindedness and pet adoptions recently, has now been thrust into national headlines for a terroristic-like shooting in which five are dead, including the alleged shooter, and several more are wounded.

Only hours after the incident, federal, state and local officials wouldn’t say whether everything that happened Thursday at the Army Recruiting Center on Lee Highway and the Navy Operational Support Center and Marine Corps Reserve Center off Amnicola Highway was as simple as a horrific crime or was a coordinated, planned attack with domestic or international ties.

Photo Gallery

‘Nightmare for our city’

Chattanooga Police Cadets in training walk through a hallway at the Chattanooga Fire Training center after a domestic terror incident that killed four Marines at the nearby Naval Reserve facility on Amnicola Highway on Thursday, July 16, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Chattanooga Police Department Sgt. John Monroe, center, holds an automatic weapon prior to a news conference at the Chattanooga Fire Training center about a domestic terror incident that killed four Marines at the nearby Naval Reserve facility on Amnicola Highway on Thursday, July 16, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Chattanooga Police Department instructor Ricky Ballard guards the front door at the Chattanooga Fire Training center prior to a news conference about a domestic terror incident that killed four Marines at the nearby Naval Reserve facility on Amnicola Highway on Thursday, July 16, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn.

FBI Special Agent In Charge Ed Reinhold speaks from the podium during a news conference at the Chattanooga Fire Training center about a domestic terror incident that killed four Marines at the nearby Naval Reserve facility on Amnicola Highway on Thursday, July 16, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn.

National and local media gather for a news conference at the Chattanooga Fire Training center about a domestic terror incident that killed four Marines at the nearby Naval Reserve facility on Amnicola Highway on Thursday, July 16, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Chattanooga Police Department Chief Fred Fletcher speaks from the podium during a news conference at the Chattanooga Fire Training center about a domestic terror incident that killed four Marines at the Naval Reserve facility on Amnicola Highway on Thursday, July 16, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn.

U. S. District Attorney General Bill Killian, center, speaks with others in a hallway after a news conference at the Chattanooga Fire Training center about a domestic terror incident that killed four Marines at the Naval Reserve facility on Amnicola Highway on Thursday, July 16, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn.

U. S. District Attorney General Bill Killian, left, and FBI Special Agent In Charge Ed Reinhold speak with others in a hallway after a news conference at the Chattanooga Fire Training center about a domestic terror incident that killed four Marines at the Naval Reserve facility on Amnicola Highway on Thursday, July 16, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Sgt. DeMonte Cheeley limps as he is escorted to an unmarked patrol car by police officers from Erlanger Hospital's emergency room after a shooting at both the Lee Highway Armed Forces Career Center and the Naval Operational Support Center on Amnicola Highway on Thursday, July 16, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The shooting left five dead, including the shooter, and a Chattanooga police officer wounded.

Law enforcement perch on the rear of an armored vehicle as they prepare at a staging area on Hixson Pike to investigate the nearby home of gunman Mohammad Abdulazeez on Thursday, July 16, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Abdulazeez is the gunman in a shooting at both the Amnicola Highway Armed Forces Career Center and the Naval Operational Support Center on Amnicola Highway which left five dead, including the shooter, and a Chattanooga police officer wounded.

Law enforcement work around the Chattanooga Police's bomb squad truck.

FBI agents prepare in a staging area on Hixson Pike before leaving to investigate the nearby home of gunman Mohammad Abdulazeez on Thursday, July 16, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Abdulazeez is the gunman in a shooting at both the Amnicola Highway Armed Forces Career Center and the Naval Operational Support Center on Amnicola Highway which left five dead, including the shooter, and a Chattanooga police officer wounded.

A Chattanooga Police Officer blocks access to the Colonial Shores neighborhood as police raid the home of gunman Mohammad Abdulazeez on Thursday, July 16, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Abdulazeez is the gunman in a shooting at both the Amnicola Highway Armed Forces Career Center and the Naval Operational Support Center on Amnicola Highway which left five dead, including the shooter, and a Chattanooga police officer wounded.

Hamilton County Sheriff's officers hold rifles outside of Erlanger Hospital's emergency room while the hospital is on lockdown after a shooting at both the Amnicola Highway Armed Forces Career Center and the Naval Operational Support Center on Amnicola Highway on Thursday, July 16, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The shooting left five dead, including the shooter, and a Chattanooga police officer wounded.

Officers enter the Erlanger Hospital ER after a shooting at both the Lee Highway Armed Forces Career Center and the Naval Operational Support Center on Amnicola Highway on Thursday, July 16, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The shooting left five dead, including the shooter, and a Chattanooga police officer wounded.

Officers put plastic bags of items into the trunk of a patrol car in the ambulance bay of Erlanger Hospital's ER after a shooting at both the Lee Highway Armed Forces Career Center and the Naval Operational Support Center on Amnicola Highway on Thursday, July 16, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The shooting left five dead, including the shooter, and a Chattanooga police officer wounded.

Phlebotomist Katrice Davenport, center, prepares to take donated blood from Emily Ramsey at the Blood Assurance center Thursday, July 116, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Ramsey, whose husband is a former marine who served in the local unit, came to donate after hearing about the shooting at both the Lee Highway Armed Forces Career Center and the Naval Operational Support Center on Amnicola Highway which left five dead, including the shooter, and a Chattanooga police officer wounded.

Retired marine Ben Cool watches news reports as he donates blood at the Blood Assurance center Thursday, July 116, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Cool came to donate blood after hearing about the shooting at both the Lee Highway Armed Forces Career Center and the Naval Operational Support Center on Amnicola Highway which left five dead, including the shooter, and a Chattanooga police officer wounded.

Phlebotomists Katrice Davenport, left, and Lauren Hinton prepare bags of donated blood at Blood Assurance after a shooting at both the Amnicola Highway Armed Forces Career Center and the Naval Operational Support Center on Amnicola Highway on Thursday, July 16, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn. The shooting left five dead, including the shooter, and a Chattanooga police officer wounded.

Police vehicles block the intersection of Amnicola Highway and Wilcox Boulevard in response to a domestic terror incident that killed four Marines at the Naval Reserve facility on Amnicola Highway on Thursday, July 16, 2015, in Chattanooga, Tenn.

“Do not get caught up in labels,” U.S. Attorney Bill Killian cautioned at an afternoon news conference.

Either way, the Scenic City is on the map again, with President Barack Obama being informed of the event and U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., making remarks about the incident on the Senate floor. But no one would have chosen this kind of notoriety.