East Ridge police investigators are trying to determine who may have fired several gunshots outside the End Zone, early Sunday morning.
According to a police report, two ERPD officers was sitting in their squad cars outside Little Caesars Pizza at 2:27 Sunday morning when they heard several gunshots coming from the area of the End Zone Bar and Grill on Ringgold Road. When the officers pulled into the parking lot of the establishment, one officer saw several parties running to their vehicles and several others leaving in cars at a high rate of speed. According to the report, one officer heard multiple people yelling, “they shooting!”
The report states that an officer entered the bar and asked several security workers where the shots were coming from. The report states that security workers told the officer that there hadn’t been any shooting and they didn’t know why police had responded.
After several other officers arrived, the owner of the bar, Melissa Price, came outside. According to the report, Price was “defensive” and denied that a shooting had taken place. Police canvased the parking lot and found two spent 9mm casings, as well as one live 9 mm round at the rear of the parking lot.
The report states that while investigators were collecting evidence, two people told the officer that the shooter was a black male in a black-collared shirt, driving a red Dodge Charger. According to the report, some witnesses told police that several people from the Dodge Charger were denied entrance to the bar, and when they couldn’t get inside a black male fired several shots at the building and fled.
The report states that while canvasing the parking lot, police found “numerous” alcohol bottles throughout the lot as well as small discarded bags that smelled of marijuana. Other officers on the scene said they smelled the odor of marijuana coming from the bar, as well as permeating the parking lot.
The report states that “once again, many of the patrons leaving the bar were wearing colors and clothing very commonly associated with local Chattanooga gangs.”
At about 7 p.m. on Sunday, police returned to the End Zone to try and make contact with the owner to gather further information. The report states that “while on the property, I observed Mrs. Price inside the establishment, however, she would not come to the door and speak with police.”
At this time, officers also saw several security cameras on the outside of the building that covered various vantage points around the bar’s property. “Unfortunately, I was not able to make contact with the owner to obtain the security footage in efforts to identify the shooter,” the report states.
