How the Chattanooga Shooting Unfolded
The proximity of two different military offices and the mystery surrounding a lone gunman caused confusion as local and federal authorities tried to respond to a fatal attack in Chattanooga. Now investigators have been able to outline how the attack on Thursday unfolded, leaving four Marines dead, three others injured, not including the shooter, who also died.
Here is the deadly sequence of events.
10:45 a.m. Thursday
The first shooting was reported at the Combined Armed Forces Recruiting Center on Lee Highway.
The shooter reportedly took aim while still in his silver Ford Mustang convertible with the top down.
One Marine was reportedly wounded in this shooting. The individual has not yet been publicly identified.
Reinhold said that the Chattanooga Police Department “started a pursuit,” at this point.
11 a.m. Thursday
The second shooting scene was the Naval Operational Support Center and Marine Reserve Center on Amnicola Highway. The complex contains facilities for the Navy and Marine Corps Reserve, including their armory.
Abdulazeez ran his car through a security gate, entered the building and killed four Marines, officials said.
Courtesy April Grimmett PHOTO: People gather at the scene of a shooting at a military recruitment center in Chattanooga, Tenn., July 16, 2015.
A witness who works nearby, Marilyn Hutcheson, told The Associated Press that she heard many shots.
“I couldn’t even begin to tell you how many,” she said, according to the wire service. “It was rapid-fire, like pow-pow-pow-pow-pow, so quickly. The next thing I knew, there were police cars coming from every direction.”
The suspect died at the scene amid a firefight with police, though the specifics of his death have not been publicly reported. One Chattanooga police officer was wounded.
Also injured was a sailor, who was wounded at the Marine Reserve Center, and a Marine recruiter, who was treated and released.
A defense official said the sailor was in critical condition. The condition of the officer was not clear.
Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke said that a local police officer was shot in the ankle at the second scene.
Reinhold and Berke both confirmed that the shooter died at the second location, but no specific details of his death — whether it was self-inflicted or he was shot by one of the responding officers — have been released.
Reinhold confirmed Thursday that the shootings “ended within 30 minutes” of when they started.