Chattanooga Man Sentenced To 60 Months For Unlawful Possession Of A Firearm In Connection With June 5, 2022, McCallie Avenue Shootings

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.  On November 9, 2023, Rodney Harris, 32 of Chattanooga, TN, was sentenced to 60 months in prison by the Honorable Travis R. McDonough, United States District Judge, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

As part of the plea agreement filed with the court, Harris pled guilty on June 7, 2023, to unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §922(g)(1).  Following his imprisonment, Harris will be on supervised release for three years. 

According to court records, Harris, who had previously been convicted in federal court of a drug conspiracy felony, was caught on camera wearing a mask and brandishing an Anderson Manufacturing AM-15 AR-pistol with an arm brace in front of Mary’s Bar and Grill on McCallie Avenue just prior to the shooting commencing.  Harris himself was shot 17 times and run over by a vehicle during the incident.

United States Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III of the Eastern District of Tennessee; Special Agent in Charge Marcus Watson of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF); and Special Agent in Charge Joseph E. Carrico, of the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), made the announcement. 

The indictment is the result of an investigation by the Chattanooga Police Department, ATF, and FBI.  Several other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies assisted in the investigation, including the United States Marshals Service, United States Secret Service, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a comprehensive national strategy that creates local partnerships with law enforcement agencies to effectively enforce existing gun laws.  It provides more options to prosecutors, allowing them to utilize local, state, and federal laws to ensure that criminals who commit gun crime face tough sentences.  PSN gives each federal district the flexibility it needs to focus on individual challenges that a specific community face.

Assistant United States Attorney Christopher D. Poole represented the United States.         

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