Chattanooga's seventh shooting in eight days left a 31-year-old man dead Thursday afternoon.
Chattanooga police were called to the 2900 block of Lightfoot Mill Road just after 12:30 p.m. There, they found Quintez Bulloch with a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police secured the area and began collecting evidence. Neighbors gathered to watch the events unfold.
A man was later seen carrying a pink pet crate containing three small Yorkshire terriers out of a home within the crime scene. It wasn't clear to whom they belonged.
Bulloch's friends flooded his social media expressing their heartbreak and disbelief at learning of his death.
"Barely Slept," one woman posted publicly. "I Really Need You ... Y'all Took A Piece Of Me."
Others shared photos of Bulloch and his children.
"Tez stayed trying to help everybody and he was a great father to his kids so for somebody to do this is f - - up," another person wrote.
Gun violence statistics YTD 2020 and 2019
One shooting incident may result in multiple victims2020Shootings: 74Non-fatal victims: 74Deaths: 13Total: 872019Shootings: 62Non-fatal victims: 62Deaths: 13Total: 75
Bulloch's death marks the city's 13th gun-related homicide this year.
About 90 minutes before Bulloch was killed, a 40-year-old man was shot near the 4th Avenue on-ramp to Interstate-24.
He was taken to a local hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.
Two days earlier, on Tuesday, a 29-year-old man was shot at the Northgate Crossing apartments on Greendale Way.
Police found the victim outside a building with gunshot wounds. He was taken to the hospital for treatment and was listed in critical but stable condition.
On July 27, a 25-year-old woman was shot in the 500 block of Fisher Avenue. She also was taken to the hospital. Her injuries were not life-threatening.
On July 25, a 36-year-old man was critically wounded in a shooting outside the BP gas station in the 7000 block of East Brainerd Road.
On July 24, a 35-year-old man was shot. He told police he didn't know where he was when he was shot, and police couldn't locate a crime scene. He'd shown up at a local hospital via a personally-owned vehicle.
Sometimes, victims either take themselves or have someone else take them to the hospital instead of waiting on an ambulance, and there seem to be more victims transported that way in recent weeks, police have said.
They've noted that many shootings have taken place in the street, so it could be easier to quickly get into a car, and with the COVID-19 pandemic keeping many people home, more people may be available to transport the victim.
On July 23, a 38-year-old man was shot multiple times in the 4200 block of Fagan Street. His injuries were not considered life-threatening
Earlier this month, gun violence was holding steady for Chattanooga, compared to previous years in the same months. The number of shootings always starts to rise as weather gets warmer and people spend more time interacting with each other.
But in the past two weeks, there's been an uptick, leaving 12 more people injured this year than at this same time in 2019, according to Times Free Press records. The number of deaths remains the same for both years.
Some of the recent shootings are part of ongoing gang disputes, police have said, though no details have been released, and it's not clear exactly which ones are gang-related.
That information is difficult to legally prove, which is why police don't often disclose it.
Additionally, evidence of gang membership - which is not a crime in and of itself - is considered character evidence, and character evidence generally can't be used at trial because it could lead a jury to convict a defendant based upon the defendant's bad character rather than upon the strength of the evidence.
Police ask anyone with information regarding the incidents to call the homicide tip line at 423-643-5100 or submit a tip via the CPD Mobile App. Tipsters can remain anonymous.
Contact Rosana Hughes at rhughes@timesfreepress.com or follow her on Twitter @Hughes Rosana.