Four Marines, Suspect Dead in Tennessee Military Center Shootings
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn., July 16 (UPI) — At least one gunman opened fire at U.S. Navy facilities in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Thursday, killing four Marines and seriously injuring three others, officials said. The suspected gunman is also dead.
The U.S. Navy, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Department of Homeland Security are investigating the shootings, which took place at a military recruiting center and ended at a Navy Reserve center less than six miles away.
A Pentagon official told CNN the four victims were members of the Marine Corps.
U.S. Attorney for the eastern district of Tennessee Bill Killian said law enforcement is investigating the incident “as an act of domestic terrorism.” At a news conference Thursday afternoon, he said the FBI is now in charge of the investigation.
The incident began shortly before 11 a.m. and by 1:15 p.m., the Chattanooga police tweeted the “active shooter situation” is over. FBI agent Ed Reinhold said all the victims died at the reserve center.
Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke said a number of people were shot and injured, including a Chattanooga police officer, who was shot in the ankle. He has been “treated very well” at Erlanger Health Center in the city. An officer told WCRB-TV in Chattanooga the injured officer was in stable condition.
The shootings prompted lockdowns across the region, including the governor’s residence in Nashville, some 130 miles from Chattanooga. The War Memorial and the Tennessee Capitol complex also have additional security in place.
Chattanooga State Community College, local hospitals and offices were put on lockdown as the event went on. Some witnesses said they saw a person firing a high-powered rifle from a moving vehicle, possibly a convertible.
Berke called the shootings a “nightmare for the city of Chattanooga, one to which we will respond.
“It is incomprehensible to see what happened and the way that individuals who proudly serve our country were treated,” he said. “As a city we will respond to this with every available resource that we have.”
Reinhold would not explain why the FBI is investigating the incident as an act of terrorism. He said law enforcement had no advance knowledge of a possible attack.
Killian urged the public not to “get caught up in labels.”
“The FBI and the other agencies are going to investigate this case thoroughly,” he said. “They will determine after the facts are determined whether it’s an act of terrorism at all, whether it’s a crime and what the nature of that crime is, or whether it’s a combination of those.”
