Donnie Carlos Campbell, 61, was arrested after witnesses said he shot another man in a homeless camp on Signal Hills Drive for stealing something of his.
Chattanooga police responded to a person shot on Signal Hills Drive on Thursday at approximately 6:14 p.m. and located a 55-year-old man suffering from a life threatening gunshot wound to the abdomen. The man was found in a homeless camp in the woods behind a church at 124 Signal Hills Dr. Due to the severity of the man's wounds, he was transported to the hospital by ambulance.
He was stabilized, but unable to speak after life-saving measures were taken by hospital staff and an emergency surgery was performed.
Several independent witnesses at the crime scene told police that Campbell shot the man. The witnesses said Campbell fled the scene with his firearm while riding a blue Dimond bike down the tracks. Police were unable to locate him on Thursday.
Police were notified by hospital staff at 6:51 p.m. that the victim had lost a substantial amount of blood and was in critical condition. They said the man would not be able to speak to police for possibly a couple of days.
One witness told police that she heard a loud argument between the victim and Campbell. She said Campbell then pulled out a small silver revolver, pointed it at the victim and fired one round. She said she had seen no prior physical altercation when, or before the shot was fired, and did not see the victim do anything to provoke the shooting. She said she ran over to check on the victim and Campbell told her he shot him because he had stolen something of his. She said she told Campbell she was calling the police and he verbally threatened her. She told police several times she saw the gun in Campbell's hand, saw and heard him fire one round, located the victim suffering from a life threatening gunshot wound to the abdomen and heard Campbell admit to shooting the victim over the verbal altercation. She was able to identify Campbell from a six-pack photo lineup. She said she knows him well and that he has multiple felony convictions for violent crimes and property crimes. Police verified that information to be accurate. The woman said she would appear in court to testify to the attempted criminal homicide.
Another witness told police that she heard the gunshot and Campbell came to her tent and told her not to cooperate with police. She said he admitted to shooting the victim before fleeing the area. She told police Campbell had received the small silver .22 caliber pistol from a person named "Blake" and had shown it to several members of the camp. She told police Campbell had fired the weapon two nights prior at what he claimed to be an animal. She showed police the spent shell casing, which was in Campbell's fire pit outside his tent. She said she recognized the sound of the gunshot that struck the victim as the same gunshot sound she had heard two nights prior when Campbell had fired his silver .22 at an "animal."
Multiple independent witnesses besides the two women were able to verify the following information: a verbal argument had occurred between the victim and Campbell; no physical alteration had occurred between the two men prior to the gunshot; the weapon used by Campbell was a small silver .22 that he had shown to several people in the camp; and Campbell quickly fled the scene on the blue Dimond bike prior to police arrival.
Campbell was later arrested and charged with attempted criminal homicide, reckless endangerment and possessing a firearm with intent to go armed.