Audio clip
Jerri Weary
-
Staff Photo by Adam Crisp
A Chattanooga Housing Authority officer fatally shot a suspect Wednesday evening near East Lake Courts. The officer, responding to a disturbance, ordered the armed man to drop his gun, but he refused, and the officer shot him.
The Chattanooga Housing Officer involved in Wedneday night’s shooting was responding to sounds of shots fired when he encountered an armed gunman.
Lt. Erik Reeves of the Chattanooga Housing Authority’s Public Safety Division said that he was on bike patrol around 8:40 p.m. in East Lake Courts when he heard shots fired by what sounded like at least two different guns, according to Sgt. Jerri Weary, public information officer with the Chattanooga Police Department.
Lt Reeves said he abandoned his bike to investigate when he came upon two men in a dispute. Upon seeing Lt. Reeves, the two suspects attempted to run into a nearby apartment but couldn’t gain entry. Lt Reeves said it was at this time that he noticed that one of the suspects had a gun. Lt. Reeves said he gave repeated commands to drop the gun but the suspect instead raised his gun causing Reeves to fire at him.
The suspect, identified as 15-year-old Alonzo O’Kelley Jr., was taken to Erlanger hospital where he died of a single gunshot wound to the upper body. Another juvenile was taken into custody immediately after the shooting and is believed to be connected to the initial incident.
Investigators with the Chattanooga Police Department obtained information that O’Kelley and another juvenile were involved in a shooting incident in the 2600 block of 4th Avenue with multiple occupants of two vehicles just before Lt. Reeves encountered them, Sgt. Weary said.
Crime scene investigators recovered multiple shell casings believed to have been fired from the two vehicles and also recovered a gun believed to be O’Kelley’s.
The investigation into both shooting incidents will continue.
Good Job CHA + ATF!
1- Was the officer in uniform? 2- Did he properly identify himself? 3- Why did he respond and not a regular City cop? 3- [I like 3] Does a CHA officer always respond to this type call? 4- Where was his backup or was one even there? If not, why? 4- [I like 4, too] Do CHA officers always respond to a possible shooting without backup? Again, why? Is this normal CPD procedure? 5- Finally, and most importantly, did the "armed" man point the gun at the officer or directly threaten him with it? Any serials on the gun?
C'mon. We have a dead man here under questionable circumstances; let's ensure followup. PS- Monitor BATF.
GOOD.
There are a few things to think of here.
1.) Shooting ramdomly out of a car. This jerk could have killed anyone in the area. 2.) If this kid was stupid enough to be carrying a gun at 15, the odds are pretty good that he would continue to do so until either he killed someone or got shot himself.
My sympathies to his family, but the bottomline is ONE LESS WANNA GANGSTER OFF THE STREETS!!
Good riddance...another thug that will never walk the streets again.
Very sad that another young man died but he was provided the chance to drop the gun. Very simple. If he was firing the gun it is good no one else died. This is the senseless type of violence that is so disturbing.
I don't usually agree with rolando, but when he's right he's right.
Excellent staff update; good detail. Thanx.
Good job, Lieutenant Reeves. A tough patrol and a tougher choice, but the right one in the end.
Or login with:
New Account