Search for Shooter at Interstate Holdings
Detectives with the Polk County Sheriff's Office are looking for a gunman who got into a shootout with workers at the water treatment plant in Cantrell Flats area at a Intertrade Holdings Facility.
Detective Joe Price says the workers saw a man walking nearby around 10:30 last night. When they challenged the man, Det. Price says the suspect pulled a gun, ducked and opened fire.
One of the employees, 60-year-old Sid Arp of McCayesville, Ga., used a shotgun kept on site against the suspect. The shotgun is there at the treatment plant for protection against coyotes and other predators.
During the gunfire, another Intertrade employee, 57-year-old Larry Breeden of Cherry Log, Ga., was wounded in the neck. Breeden went from Copper Basin Medical Center to Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga last night. Det. Price says he was released this morning and back to work this afternoon.
The two other employees involved in the gunfight, Arp and 37-year-old Shawn Taylor, of Turtletown, were not hurt.
The three employees told investigators when the shooting stopped, the gunman jumped on a four-wheeler and fled the area. Polk County Sheriff's Deputies, helped by TVA Police, Copperhill Police and East Polk Fire and Rescue spent six hours searching Intertrade Property for the gunman but were not successful. Det. Price says searchers did find tracks from the four-wheeler, they couldn't find where he left the grounds on the large chemical plant.
There have been several reported trespassing incidents on Intertrade Property in recent weeks, including the theft of a tractor and four-wheeler. Det. Price says they do not know why the gunman was on the property or if it is related to the recent thefts.
