A middle-aged Tennessee woman is under arrest
after she drove around a suburban Chattanooga neighborhood,
inexplicably shooting at people and vehicles. Julia Shields, 45, has
been arrested and faces multiple felony charges, after she terrorized
her neighborhood on Friday. Shields faces three counts of attempted murder and seven counts of aggravated assault. She also faces charges for reckless endangerment, evading arrest, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
The woman fired shots randomly at vehicles and
continued to aim her gun at vehicles even while she was being chased by
police. She also pointed her firearm at police officers, but she was
eventually arrested and taken alive.
Shields resides in the Hixson neighborhood in the
North part of Chattanooga. The shootings took place in the same area.
Hixson is a predominately white, upper middle-class neighborhood, where the household median income is well above the state average.
So far, neither the police nor the media have
identified a motive for why the woman went on a shooting spree. Nor has
any information been released regarding whether or not she has a prior
criminal record. Until more information is known about the alleged
shooter, it will be difficult to determine what motivated her to drive
around turning her neighborhood into a free fire zone.
The suspect's behavior clearly menaced the community
and the police officers who pursued her. Were an African-American male
to act in this manner, he would no doubt be labeled a thug by teabagger bloggers
and wingnut shrieking heads. Under identical circumstances, it is also
likely that a young black male would have been shot rather than
apprehended unharmed by police officers.
Shields is being held in the Hamilton County Jail.
Bond has not been set yet. Shields is scheduled to appear before Judge
Gary Starnes on January 5th.
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