9 shot in Chattanooga

[TGO David]

From the article...

Officer Jacques Weary. Officer Weary fired four times at the suspect, who was able to escape.

I don't like Monday Morning quarterbacking but it's Tuesday and I'm feeling a little snarky. So, can we please get Officer Weary some remedial firearms accuracy training?!? Those four shots went somewhere which concerns me about as much as the idea that the other ghetto vermin were also just shooting indiscriminately into the crowd of people.

[Guest Mad4rcn]

I moved to Ooltewah about 26 yrs ago,after being born and raised in North Chattanooga. I go downtown about 5 times a year to take in a Lookouts game when my son comes in on leave,other than that,I just stay away.

[Oh Shoot]

...

I was born in Chattanooga (Erlanger) and lived on Bailey ave.

It's pretty rough over there now...

Born at Erlanger myself, and spent time at my grandmother's sister's house on Bailey. It's still there, sandwiched between some other buildings on TN Temple "campus". Was just by there the other day, visiting Dad's grave in National Cemetery.

I walk around regularly in Knoxville areas from short west to downtown, where some claim it's "dangerous", but I wouldn't even consider the same kind of travel in that area of 'Nooga anymore.

- OS

[Mad_Squirrell]

We moved to the Cleveland area about 8 years ago. Chattanooga is my hometown I grew up in Brainerd lived most of my adult life in the Red Bank area . The thuggery in Chattanooga has become very violent .I work off of Bonny Oaks and the occasional trip down to the Mall or Sportsman's Whse or Academy sports is the only time I go there anymore . It's Sad really to see the city be overtaken by lawlessness to the point where no one feels safe anymore .

The Mentality in Chattanooga to close down "trouble spots" existed long before Littlefield. All the video arcades and pool halls that catered to the younger crowd were shut down in the early nineties because of "bad elements". Then cruising Brainerd was banned .Then groups of kids were banned at the mall and ultimately no minors were allowed at the mall without an adult chaperone . Kids had no place to go anymore and just hang out with friends. I guess the powers that be just assumed that Kids would stick to school and church functions or just stay home . Instead of dealing with the problem elements they just ruined it for everyone . Now all that exists is the problems and they have no place to go except to spill out into the streets .

The crime problem in Hamilton county is multifaceted with the closing of VOTEC schools that problem kids were sent to learn a valuable skill . To the lack of strict Discipline in schools . The decision to target drug users instead of the dealers,and with no parent accountability for the raising of their kids has propagated the massive amounts of misguided youths with no place to go but to the gangs . Gangs are not the problem its the symptom of much longer and deeper rooted issues that the city and society as a whole has created.

Chattanooga has a long history of political corruption and as long as politics as usual prevails nothing will ever change in that city . It will just continue to decline. It's turning into a little Memphis and If the Metro Govt. that Littlefield wants ever comes to fruition that's exactly what it will be like if not worse .

[Guest chrisdridley]

Attached is a Fire and Crime Scene map from today's TimesFreepress......seems to be very informative

Fire and crime scene map | timesfreepress.com

[dralarms]

The "officals" seem to be blaming the club for this. I've never been there but it's supposed to be a place for kids to hang out and stay out of trouble. Manny Rico was blaming the church that runs the club.

[TN_Hiker]

Attached is a Fire and Crime Scene map from today's TimesFreepress......seems to be very informative

Fire and crime scene map | timesfreepress.com

Wow! First time I've seen a map like that before. It's one thing to see news articles but seeing it like that puts it in a whole new perspective.

[Guest archerdr1]

I live in East Ridge. There is crime, but not TOO bad. I refuse to go to the parks due to the firearms ban. I work in the Highland Park area, and that is the only reason I go there, but over the last year I think I went downtown about 4 times. I would rather walk in Highland Park at 2am (I used to work for TTU security, so I know how bad it gets down there) than to walk downtown at 5pm. Downtown has gotten crazy. I do not let my children go to any downtown parks, if they want to go to a park we go to either Ft. Oglethorpe, GA or to Red Bank. As far as the Mosaic/Fathom, it is being blamed, to the point that there is a guy trying to get an injunction from a New Years Eve party there called BYOB, Bring Your Own Bible. Put the blame where it belongs... on the parents of these kids. As far as the Police being neutered, yes, they are. Every time they arrest one of these punks, they are called Racists and put on suspension for taking a guy down. A year ago there was a guy in East Lake that pointed a rifle at 6 cops. They all shot him and they all were put on suspension and a few of them are still going through lawsuits. The Police officers have no support from the officials. The report from the "City Leaders" was that they perforated the guy b/c he was black. Let's get off of the race card and onto the problem.

[cadillacdude1975]

the mayor is more interested in preventing his removal from office. for those who do not know, a petition was gathered and signed and verified, and the mayor has been recalled. he has since filed a lawsuit against the petition. all that is doing is wasting money and keeping him in office longer.

dont forget that you can also visit soddy daisy. they allow you to carry there as well in the parks.

[Guest archerdr1]

Have gone to soddy a few times too. My boys like the parks there too. They like chasing the ducks. Yes, I do wish that Littlefield would realize that nobody wants him here and he would just leave.

[Guest tommy62]

The newspaper released the names of the "victims". One of them (Thomas Armstrong) has an arrest record for aggrivated assault, evading arrest, criminal impersonation, and theft of property. Another (Charqueal Appling) has an arrest record for posession and evading arrest. This info is on the Chattanooga General Sessions Court website. I wonder what they were doing at this "teen club". Just sayin'.

[Currently]

On TV a couple days ago, they had one of the victims being interviewed and he was vehemently denying it was gang related.

They showed a picture pulled from facebook of him lying down on his hospital bed with all his friends flashing gang signs. Mirrors the same credibility as our politicians ... come to think about it, there is no difference between gangs and politicians!

[jtmaze]

D@#*. I didn't know Chattanooga had gotten that bad. I own my oldest daughter a trip to the Aquarium there but now not sure if I wanna take her. This has told me a lot though, carry 1911 OWB and .380 concealed. Sounds like Jackson or little Memphis as we call it. I am really sorry to hear it because I was looking forward to aquarium.

JTM🔫

Sent from my iPhone

[Oh Shoot]

... I am really sorry to hear it because I was looking forward to aquarium.

Aquarium is protected and safe enough. If it falls, downtown falls.

- OS

[EastHipster]

P.S.

The Aquarium has a Gunbuster I think

[JGunner]

P.S.

The Aquarium has a Gunbuster I think

I do recall the aquarium having some sort of posting last time I was there (approx 6 months ago).

[strickj]

D@#*. I didn't know Chattanooga had gotten that bad. I own my oldest daughter a trip to the Aquarium there but now not sure if I wanna take her. This has told me a lot though, carry 1911 OWB and .380 concealed. Sounds like Jackson or little Memphis as we call it. I am really sorry to hear it because I was looking forward to aquarium.

JTM

Sent from my iPhone

Born at Erlanger myself, and spent time at my grandmother's sister's house on Bailey. It's still there, sandwiched between some other buildings on TN Temple "campus". Was just by there the other day, visiting Dad's grave in National Cemetery.

I walk around regularly in Knoxville areas from short west to downtown, where some claim it's "dangerous", but I wouldn't even consider the same kind of travel in that area of 'Nooga anymore.

- OS

Well, call me nuts or crazy but I still consider downtown to be pretty safe. Even little ole' helpless me will park and 'foot it to go where I need to go.

It's even getting to be a common sight to see joggers and loft dwellers out later at night around the north end on Main. A place you wouldn't want to drive at night a few years ago.

[Chadastrophic]

I've never felt that unsafe downtown, weird, maybe it's the Flint in me.

Sent from my Touchpad using Tapatalk

[Oh Shoot]

Well, call me nuts or crazy but I still consider downtown to be pretty safe. ...

Was commenting mainly on the section from the Brainerd tunnel TO downtown. I know you don't toddle around in the area roughly squared by Dodds, E. 3rd, and E. 23rd. - that area has some of the worst crime stats in the nation. Indeed, if you wanted to troll ala Death Wish, this is best fishing grounds I know.

- OS

[Dennis1209]

I'm surprised they haven't mentioned mixed income housing. That will bring it to a neighborhood near you. Projects didn't work, Section 8 is destroying many neighborhoods, what's another social experiment failure?

[Guest Lester Weevils]

It is difficult to evaluate the risks. I don't go downtown very often lately, so dunno if it has changed.

In 1971 when working in alcohol/drug counseling, a percentage of the clients were there to satisfy court requirements. Muggers, burglars, shop lifters, car thieves and conmen. Such crimes would not seem commonplace by reading the news at the time, but on the other hand for each one of the clients when they were out on the street, SOMEBODY in the area was getting mugged, burgled, shop lifted or conned to the tune of hundreds of dollars per day to support the drug habits. Many of those criminals would have been rich if the ill-gained money had gone into a bank account rather than a vein.

So even back then, the crime was happening all the time to somebody somewhere, though it did not seem overall risky to walk the streets.

Couple of years later interned awhile at an inner-city residential program for "at risk adolescents". The kids may have had bad habits, but were mostly just borderline-crazy with poor impulse control. Stuff that kids SOMETIMES grow out of.

As best could tell, every person who had worked there longer than six months had their butts kicked by a client at least once. Some of the injuries severe including broken bones. That was just middle-aged men who happened to get in a situation having to deal with a half-crazy young strong adolescent without enough backup. I didn't work there long enough to "get lucky". For every kid in the residential program there were surely many kids as bad or worse out on the street. It is unlikely that those kind of kids were any safer to be around "in the real world" than in a "controlled environment".

Juvi's with guns and knives were not unheard-of back then, but nowadays the problem kids are surely at least as weird and much better armed. We are always gonna have a percentage of flakey teens, it goes along with growing up. Quality control in humans is very spotty. In addition, organized gang activity did not seem very prevalent 40 years ago in the Chatt area. The gangs glorify, reinforce, and organize the mayhem which would occur anyway without the gangs. Working with adolescent males is truly a "real man's job", at least if the man is gonna stay healthy.

But there has always been risk. When attending college late-1960's Atlanta, had a couple of "steady gigs" good for extra cash playing music at YMCA teen dances. One gig was out in the burbs and wasn't too dangerous. The one downtown was scary. Lots of those kids were like the ones at the residential center in Chatt. Obviously crazy and unpredictable even if they were acting friendly. Not a good idea to spend much time in their vicinity. Perhaps living in poor and crowded conditions is risky to a person's sanity? Plenty of middle class kids get crazy enough in the high-hormone years of course.

[strickj]

Looks like the mayor is finally admitting there is a gang problem. He's only a decade late

Mayor appoints anti-gang czars - WRCBtv.com | Chattanooga News, Weather & Sports

[Oh Shoot]

I'm surprised they haven't mentioned mixed income housing. That will bring it to a neighborhood near you. Projects didn't work, Section 8 is destroying many neighborhoods, what's another social experiment failure?

Nobody wants to admit it.

Good post by Slasher in another thread has link to great article regarding that topic.

http://www.tngunowners.com/forums/handgun-carry-self-defense/67177-speaking-gangs.html#post839793

- OS

[Guest chrisdridley]

Chattanooga Times/Free Press reports today that there have been 9 shootings in the first 13 days of the year in Chattanooga. This doesn't include the people shot in the hospital in Ft O.

Chattanooga man shot in Eastdale | timesfreepress.com

[billyscott]

Dennis1209, you are very right. If you look at Murfreesboro, the high crime areas are right around the section 8 housing.

The government can't give anything to anybody unless they first take it from somebody else.

And they have bred a whole culture of people who think it is their right to steal from anybody who has something.

It's just like a job to them. If they get caught, pay a lawyer, pay court costs, get probation, and go out and do it again.