3 killed, 17 injured after shooting outside Tennessee bar

A total of 17 people were injured after the violent melee early Sunday morning when multiple parties began shooting at one another near the Chattanooga popular bar. 14 were shot and three were struck by vehicles that witnesses say were fleeing the scene.

According to KIRO 7, several of the victims, which include one minor and 16 adults, are in critical condition.

In a press conference delivered just hours after the shooting, Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly said that "congress needs to take responsible action to address the issue of gun violence in the country," according to tweets from local reporter Samuel Peña.

At the moment the police do not know how many shooters were involved and the authorities are going to the public for help in their hunt. Chief of Police Celeste Murphy said "this is once again a situation in which we find that we need help from the community to help us out with this, because we cannot do this by ourselves."

The shooting took place near Mary’s Bar and Grill on the 2100 block of McCallie Avenue in downtown Chattanooga at 2:42am.

In tweets posted on Sunday afternoon, Kelly expressed his sympathy towards the families of those who were killed in the shooting, adding that his administration is working to address the root causes of gun violence, and bring those involved to justice.

Police Chief Murphy cordoned off that portion of McCallie Avenue for further investigation but told the public she didn't believe the incident reflected an ongoing threat to the community.

However, the Daily Mail reports that the incident comes after another shooting in a different part of downtown Chattanooga that left 3 injured that same night and another shooting that left three teens injured the weekend prior.

These shootings are reflective of statistics showing violent crime has been soaring in American cities since 2020.