A large crowd of people gathered around the yellow crime scene tape surrounding a corner store parking lot in the 100 block of West 38th Street Sunday evening.
Police have yet to release the name or age of the victim. They still were working to notify the victim's family. Police did confirm that a male had been shot and died at the scene.
I don’t know if y’all can hear this... but these are the cries of a woman as she gets closer to where the body is. I’m sharing this to show that this DOES affect people in unimaginable ways. This is what a the loss loved one gone too soon sounds like. pic.twitter.com/Xe1AsuU617
— Rosana Hughes Rodríguez (@HughesRosana) May 6, 2018
Crime scene investigators are still out here, three hours later. Sgt. Adam Emery says they’ll likely be out here a few more hours. And homicide detectives will be probably be much, much longer. Maybe up to a day or more.
— Rosana Hughes Rodríguez (@HughesRosana) May 7, 2018
The body was draped in a pink sheet and could be seen from the street. The wind carried the cries and screams of a woman mourning the loss of her loved one. Police ran to hold another woman back after she crossed the tape, determined to reach the body.
A group of women huddled together on the sidewalk comforting their friend who was crying almost inconsolably.
The scene unfolded one block away from the Bethlehem Center, a youth and family development center in Alton Park. Several children were among the crowd of onlookers.
At 9 p.m., the crime scene still was active and investigators were still at work. Chattanooga police Sgt. Adam Emery said crime scene investigators would be on scene for a few more hours and homicide detectives would be working much longer, possibly up to a day or more.
Sunday's shooting death marks Chattanooga's sixth homicide this year.
Emery asked anyone with any information to call the police department's homicide tip line, 423-643-5100. Callers can remain anonymous.
Contact staff writer Rosana Hughes at rhughes@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6327 with tips or story ideas. Follow her on Twitter @Hughes Rosana.