Six people were wounded, two of whom are in critical condition, after gunfire erupted in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee Saturday night, WTVC reports.
The Chattanooga Police Department said officers were driving around the area about 15 minutes prior to the city’s 11 p.m. youth curfew when gunshots were heard. According to CNN, officers arrived at the scene to find “multiple parties exchanging gunfire and numerous people fleeing.”
Chattanooga Police Chief Celeste Murphy said the names of those injured have not been released because they are all minors.
Police spokesperson Jeremy Eames said in a news release Sunday, per WBIR, authorities suspect the shooting took place as large groups of juveniles were walking around the downtown area. Eames added that it is believed not everyone struck were intended targets. A person of interest was detained after the incident but has since been ruled out as a suspect.
Chattanooga mayor Tim Kelly initially took to Twitter to address the shooting before holding a press conference earlier today.
Kelly pleaded for an end to the “youth getting shot” in wake of the massacre of 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas less than a week ago.
“I’m standing here in front of you talking about our community’s youth getting shot. That’s outrageous and it has to stop,” he said. “It’s ridiculous that I even need to publicly state that guns have no place in the hands of our kids and that children shouldn’t be wandering around in the middle of the night without supervision.”
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