Man Shot on Burns Avenue

East Ridge police are searching for the suspect in a shooting that happened early this morning in a home on Burns Avenue.

According to a press release issued by the department, the shooting happened at about 1 a.m. at 1521 Burns Avenue. When officers arrived they found a 37-year-old man suffering from a single gunshot wound to the abdomen. The man was taken by EMS to a local hospital.

According to the press release, the suspect had fled the scene before police arrived. Witnesses told officers that the suspect is a white male, 25 to 30 years of age. He was driving a dark Nissan Frontier-style pickup truck. The suspect was accompanied by a white female, 25 to 30 years of age.

Witnesses told officers that the shooting may have been the result of an altercation over the woman who left with the suspect.

Family members identified the victim of the shooting as Duane Wagner. Wagner underwent surgery for his wound and is recovering.

East Ridge police are actively investigating the incident. Anyone with information can call 423.622.1725, or the Confidential Tip Line at 423.867.0016.

About Dick Cook

Dick Cook has lived in East Ridge since the Kennedy Administration when his parents bought a house on Marietta Street. Dick graduated from ERHS in 1976 before going on to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where he studied Political Science. Dick worked for the Chattanooga Free-Press and the Chattanooga Times Free Press for 22 years. Free-Press Sports Editor Roy Exum plucked him out of production in 1989 and gave him a job as a sports reporter. Dick covered everything from prep sports to the whitewater events on the Ocoee River for the 1996 Olympics. When Chattanooga's two paper's merged, he became the Crime Reporter covering both the Chattanooga Police and Fire Departments. He was among reporters who were honored by the Associated Press for the TFP's coverage of the 2002 fog-shrouded crash on I-75 in Catoosa County, Dick and his wife, Cathy, live on Marlboro Avenue where they are seen frequently chasing around their three grandsons.