Chattanooga Police Department officers place evidence markers in the parking lot of Captain D's near Highway 58 on Thursday, Apr. 21, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn.Also read
CPD investigating Friday morning shooting
Police arrested two suspects Thursday after a shooting in front of a Captain D's on Highway 58 injured a bystander in a Food City parking lot across the busy roadway.
Rashad Davis, 19, and Christopher Green, 20, were both charged with attempted first degree murder, among a slew of other charges after the incident, which marked the 11th shooting in Chattanooga in 6 days.
Tracy Arnold, an assistant chief in the Chattanooga Police Department, said one of the victims, later identified as Joe Massengill, 46, suffered a superficial graze wound on his back when a bullet ricocheted. Demarketh King, 27, the actual target of the shooting, according to police, was unharmed.
Witnesses reported to police that the suspects left the scene in a white Chevy Impala.
According to a press release, both suspects were detained at a residence on Swann Road, less than 2 miles away from the scene, and were transported to the Chattanooga Police Service center for questioning.
A witness Thursday afternoon said he saw one of the suspects in a white Impala thrust his hand through the car window and fire multiple shots in the Captain D's parking lot. He said he pursued the suspects himself for a minute before he saw officers arriving.
Another witness, Edward Griffin, said he was at the Walgreens across the street with his niece when he heard what sounded like 20 or more gunshots.
"We didn't know what it was," he said. "We got in the car because we didn't know what to do. It sounded like fireworks."
At the scene on Swan Road, officers and onlookers surrounded a two-story home in the middle of the quiet suburb while a tow truck pulled a white, four-door sedan onto its bed. A child's swing in the backyard swayed in the breeze.
Jamar Harden, a neighbor who had come to the nearby tennis courts to play with a friend, stood across the street watching. He said he's seen and heard about violence in Chattanooga, but nothing quite this close to his own home off of Highway 58.
"You just don't see that kind of thing up here," he said. "It's part of why people move here in the first place."
Thursday afternoon's shooting was the latest in a recent string of violent incidents, but authorities said they were unclear as to whether this shooting was gang related. An ongoing gang war has claimed the lives of two men this month and injured several more people in the last week, including two pregnant women.
Contact staff writer Emmett Gienapp at egienapp@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6731.