Another mass shooting last week left six teens injured in Chattanooga, Tenn., with two in “very, very critical” condition, according to Chattanooga Police Department Chief Celeste Murphy.
According to ABC News 9, Chattanooga police released the ages of the 6 victims on Monday. Four of the victims were male, including one 13-year-old and two 15-year-olds. The other two victims were 15-year-old females.
“They had a very chaotic scene,” said Murphy of emergency responders who were already in the area of 100 Cherry Street, near the Tennessee riverfront and the Tennessee Aquarium. She said the quick response of law enforcement likely saved lives.
“They were in the places they were supposed to be and had the quickest response to be able to handle the situation,” Murphy added during a press conference aired by Local News 3.
She said that Chattanooga Police Department officers were monitoring several large groups of juveniles gathered near the aquarium and in the city’s downtown area Saturday. At one point, they heard gunshots that appeared to be fired by multiple parties, with multiple people hit.
Emergency responders worked to get others in the area to safety.
So far, investigators have determined that, preceding the gunfire, two groups of people began to converge on each other “in what appeared to be some sort of altercation,” said Murphy. Then, two individuals from one group began shooting at the other.
Murphy said evidence has not uncovered a specific target of the shots and that at least some of the people hit were unintended targets. Of the six people hit, four sustained non-life-threatening injuries and two were in critical condition Sunday.
One person of interest was detained Saturday night and has been ruled out as a suspect, said police. While no other suspects were in custody, authorities said they were following a lead on a possible suspect Sunday.
Investigators have reviewed video footage and worked throughout Saturday evening on the case, said Murphy. Evidence collected as of Sunday does not indicate the incident was gang related, but she said police have not ruled out a gang connection.
“It’s really, really early,” in the investigation, Murphy explained.
She said that incidents such as this one could be more likely with teens out of school. In addition to maintaining police presence in busy downtown areas, Murphy said the city is working on offering other outlets for children in the city.
“Until that time, I just ask all parents, just know where your kids are at night,” she said.
Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly also said the city would work on creating safe spaces for young people in the city to gather and advocated for common sense gun laws in a Twitter thread.
“It’s ridiculous that I even need to publicly state that guns have no place in the hands of our kids,” he said. “And that children shouldn’t be wandering around in the middle of the night with no supervision.”
Youth programs have been associated with a reduction in crime in other areas, including Florida and Chicago. In the latter, youth crime spiked in 2016 when there was a lack of state funding for programs and went down again when program funding was restored, according to Northwestern University.
Research from the Council on Foreign Relations think tank has also shown that strict gun control policies in other countries have worked to reduce shootings. As of Monday, there have been 227 mass shootings in the U.S. since the start of the year, including 10 so far over Memorial Day weekend, according to the Gun Violence Archive research organization.
Earlier last week, a teen gunman murdered 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
Chattanooga police said another attempt to curb youth crime – a curfew – has been difficult to enforce when large groups gather, as it can take up to one hour to process each citation. While the shooting occurred Saturday, there were over 40 juveniles congregating in the downtown area, according to law enforcement.
Murphy said there will be extra enforcement out this week for the city’s Riverbend Festival.
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