Chattanooga police are asking parents to help them keep guns out of children's hands and educate children on the dangers of handling firearms following the arrest Friday of a 15-year-old boy in connection with a mass shooting downtown last weekend in which six teenagers were injured.
"Store (guns) in places that are out of reach," Jeremy Eames, police department spokesman, said Friday in an interview with the Chattanooga Times Free Press. "If you have older kids who are obviously, cognitively able to process 'Oh, I can get a chair and come up and check on a shelf and see what is up here,' lock (the guns) up."
Safes and key-operated lockboxes are good options, he said.
Firearms should never be left unattended around children and young people, he said, adding that talking to children about gun safety is often overlooked.
"There are ways to make guns safe," Eames said. "Don't leave it out to where they can get it, and something that's really overlooked is to educate kids."
Firearms were the leading cause of death among people aged 1-19 in 2020, according to a report published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Since the Uvalde, Texas, school shootings, there have been at least five other mass shootings across the United States that have left young people either dead or injured.
Local officials and police agree there is "no one way" to end gun violence, but deterrence can start with education on the dangers of handling firearms.
"I grew up in a rural area, so guns were a part of my upbringing and very natural for us to have discussions about," Eames said. "For my own kids, I would be very frank with them, and I would explain to them the danger, I would explain to them what could happen ... you don't have to get graphic. But you can be honest, and you can explain to them just how badly they can be hurt, you can explain to them that they can even die, and then explain that in a way that a child can understand. You don't have to be graphic."
Addressing issues that arise as a result of unchaperoned children and teenagers downtown is not something new, Eames said. Chattanooga police have been dealing with that issue for years and the downtown shooting on May 28 was another night police officers had to keep track of groups of unchaperoned teenagers downtown.
"We just aren't equipped to constantly monitor the movements and the behavior of unchaperoned kids in downtown Chattanooga," Eames said. "And in very blunt terms, we can't be babysitters, and for the citizens and the taxpayers of Chattanooga, that is not how they are expecting us to utilize resources within the Chattanooga Police Department."
Despite the recent shootings, there has been a decline in gun violence in Chattanooga, Eames said. There have been six homicides so far this year, compared to 12 by this time last year. Eames added that there have been 21 non-fatal shootings so far this year, compared to 54 within the same period in 2021.
The mayor's response
Ellis Smith, spokesperson for Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly, said in an email to the Times Free Press that it will take collaboration within the community to begin to address gun violence.
"Gun violence can't be solved alone by the police, it can't be solved alone by parents and it can't be solved alone by our nonprofit community," Smith said.
Kelly announced in a Friday news release that his office is working on a plan to address gun violence.
"In the coming weeks, the city will release a three-part plan to comprehensively address gun violence in Chattanooga," the release said.
The mayor's office also plans to maintain a number of initiatives already in place to address the root causes of gun violence, including poverty and the lack of affordable housing.
When asked if the city will propose an earlier curfew to the City Council, and if there will be any workshops hosted by the mayor's office to promote gun safety and education, Smith said it will all be outlined in the plan.
"Those issues will be covered in the comprehensive plan that will include not only a strengthening of our existing initiatives ... but also new initiatives such as engaging with residents on keeping guns out of the hands of kids, investments in mentorship programs and extending hours and youth programming at our community centers," he said.
"That's why this plan will include solutions at every level in partnership with our residents to step up both long-term solutions to the underlying causes of violence, as well as address immediate needs."
Curfew
Saturday's shooting took place right before the city's curfew, which requires children 17 and under to be at home or accompanied by an adult from 11 p.m. until 6 a.m. Monday-Friday and midnight to 6 a.m. on the weekends.
The curfew also states that children 16 years old and younger have a 10 p.m. curfew during the week, while during the weekends they can stay out until 11 p.m.
"Curfew is not designed to be a punishment, it's designed to be a deterrent," Eames said. "But as a deterrent, it is not effective. So there's going to have to be something that ... becomes even more stringent than what we have now."
Chattanooga City Council Chairman Darrin Ledford said Saturday's shootings highlighted the need for and challenges of enforcing curfew laws in the city.
"It takes almost an hour to process a curfew violation," he said in an interview. "I support wholeheartedly what (Chattanooga Police) Chief (Celeste) Murphy and Mayor Kelly have called for in establishing a place for juveniles to go until their parents can get there safely. We're missing that part of the curfew enforcement. Enforcing our laws is critical to our success, and I think it is very critical that we supply the tools they need to enforce the law."
Ledford also said authorities need to hold parents responsible for their children's actions.
"We need to ask parents to enforce these curfews for their children and hold them accountable for their children," he said.
Staff writer Dave Flessner contributed to this report.
Contact La Shawn Pagán at lpagan@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476. Follow her on Twitter @LaShawnPagan.