Weekend shootings in Chattanooga sparks racial tensions on social media

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee(WDEF) – Two weekend shootings in Chattanooga that left a 19-year old woman dead and three others injured has sparked racial tension on social media.

The family of Jasmine Akins, 19, has been dealing with a lot of grief since she was shot to death Sunday morning inside a parking lot on Market Street.

"I’m feeling more worse as time goes on," said her grandfather Howard Akins.

According to both her cousin and her grandfather, Akins was leaving Chocolate City Lounge after celebrating a friends birthday when she and two other people were shot inside a parking lot across the street.

"Everyone is taking it very hard. It was an unexpected death. She just had a baby a few months ago. Her child isn’t even one year old," said her cousin Nori Moss.

To add insult to injury, once the story was published on the WDEF Facebook, there were several people who turned the Akins’s tragedy along with the shooting of another African American on Saturday night into a platform for racist comments. The comments were targeted toward black on black crime.

"I think a lot of it times it’s easy to hid behind a computer. It’s easy to hide behind a keyboard and say very hateful things until it affects their house or until death is at their door," Moss said.

"People do not really understand that crime is crime and murder is murder regardless of color and it happens all over our community," said Chattanooga City Councilman Moses Freeman.

"I think it’s unfortunate that people are turning this into a black and white issue. The bottom line is this is another murder in our city; another life is gone. Other people are hurt in the hospital trying to recoup for a senseless act," Moss said.

The two other people Moss was referring to were Dominiqick Fitch, 21 and Darrell Dewayne Armour Jr., 24. Both were also shot in the parking lot with Akins.

Five hours prior to that shooting, Marcell Christopher, 18, of Chattanooga was shot in Alton Park.