CHATTANOOGA, TN — The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is looking into a Chattanooga police encounter that ended with a 31-year-old man shot after officers responded to a 911 call on Sunday morning.
According to the Chattanooga Police Department, officers were sent to Kings Point Road shortly after 10 a.m. and found the man holding a gun. Police said officers ordered him to drop it, but he refused. During the encounter, the man fired a shot and suffered a self-inflicted injury. A CPD officer then fired one shot.
Hamilton County EMS took the man to the hospital, where he remained in critical condition.
Police say officers responded after a 911 call on Kings Point Road
Police said the situation began when dispatchers sent officers to Kings Point Road after a 911 call. The department has not publicly described the contents of that call, but officers arrived and found a man armed with a gun.
The man was identified by police as 31 years old. Officers told him to drop the weapon, and police said he did not comply.
The brief account released by the department indicates the confrontation escalated quickly once officers made contact. No additional details were immediately provided about what led up to the encounter or how many officers were present.
Man fired a shot before a CPD officer returned one round
Chattanooga police said the man fired a shot during the incident, and that shot caused a self-inflicted injury. The department did not specify the exact nature of the injury or the weapon involved.
Police also said one Chattanooga officer fired a single round. Officials have not said whether anyone else was injured during the exchange or whether the officer’s shot struck the man.
The incident remains under investigation, so the timeline and sequence of the shots may be refined as more information is collected. For now, the department has described the event as an officer encounter that ended with the man critically hurt and taken to the hospital.
Hamilton County EMS took the injured man to the hospital in critical condition
Emergency medical crews transported the man to a hospital following the shooting. Hamilton County EMS handled the transfer, and police said the man was in critical condition.
No hospital name was released, and authorities did not provide an update on his condition beyond that initial assessment. Officials also did not say whether he underwent surgery or what treatment he received.
Because the investigation is still active, law enforcement has released only limited information about the man’s medical status and the circumstances surrounding the injury.
TBI opened the investigation at the district attorney's request
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is now handling the case at the request of the Hamilton County District Attorney. That request means a state-level review will examine the officer-involved shooting and the steps leading up to it.
As is standard policy, the involved officers were placed on paid administrative leave. Police did not immediately identify how many officers were on leave, but they said the measure is routine in incidents of this kind.
Authorities said the information available so far is preliminary and could change as investigators review statements, evidence and other details from the scene.
Officials say the facts are still preliminary as the review continues
Chattanooga police cautioned that the account released Sunday should be treated as an early summary rather than a final conclusion. Investigators may still determine exactly how the confrontation unfolded and whether additional circumstances shaped the outcome.
So far, officials have confirmed the location, the timing, the presence of a gun, the command to drop it, the man’s self-inflicted injury, and the single shot fired by a CPD officer. Beyond that, authorities have not added further detail.
Anyone looking for updates will have to wait for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and local officials to release more findings as the case develops.
