Shootings were reported at a Navy Reserve center and a military recruiting center in Chattanooga, Tennessee, late Thursday morning.
One officer is “down” in connection with the shootings, Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke told reporters. He was not specific about the officer’s condition.
The U.S. Navy tweeted Thursday that a shooting happened at a Navy Reserve center on Amnicola Highway in Chattanooga, and witnesses said they saw a shooting outside a separate location — a building on Lee Highway that houses military recruiting offices.
By 1:15 p.m., the “active shooter situation” was over, police tweeted.
Gina Mule, a server at a restaurant, said she saw a man who’d been in a silver convertible Mustang, firing a “high-powered rifle” at the recruiting offices at about 10:50 a.m.
She said she first heard “Pow, pow, pow!” She then went to a window, through which she said she saw the man firing shots.
“I don’t know how many shots he fired, but it was a lot,” she said.
A second witness, April Grimmett, said she was working at a hair salon near the recruiting center when she looked out a window and saw a man ducking in between cars.
“Shortly after that, we heard the (shots). It was very loud and very fast,” Grimmett said, without saying what happened to the man she had seen.
A photo that she took shows glass doors damaged by the gunfire.
“I could not believe how many bullet holes were in that door. It was insane,” she said.
The U.S. Navy said that besides the Navy Reserve center, it was also investigating reports of a shooting at another Navy building in the city. It wasn’t immediately clear whether that second Navy building was the recruiting center that the witnesses spoke about.
“Horrific incident in our community,” Berke, the mayor, tweeted. “We will release details as they are confirmed. Prayers to all those affected.”
Photos posted on Twitter by media outlets showed police blocking a road and a large number of patrol cars.
Chattanooga State Community College asked people on its main campus to stay inside because of a “confirmed shooting,” the school said on Twitter.
Memorial Hospital in Chattanooga is “on precautionary lockdown” due to the shooting reports, hospital system spokeswoman Lisa McCluskey said.
“We have not received any shooting victims,” McCluskey said. “We are still accepting new patients.” The lockdown, she said, “is just a precautionary measure.”
The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency said it was asking the Federal Aviation Administration for temporary flight restrictions around Chattanooga at the request of Hamilton County officials due to the shooting reports, said TEMA Executive Officer Dean Flener.