Osei Hakeem Oba Sorrell
Osei Hakeem Oba Sorrell, 31, has been charged with attempted first-degree murder after a man showed up at the Erlanger Hospital emergency room on Wednesday night with a bullet to the head.
The Chattanooga Police Department was informed around 8:37 p.m. that the person had a gunshot wound. Kadarius Johnson, 19, had been transported to the hospital via a personal vehicle. His injury was serious, but non-life threatening.
Johnson advised he was followed by a white SUV-type vehicle with large dark rims near the 1300 block of Dodson Avenue, and that this vehicle then continued to follow him through various areas around downtown. Johnson stated that somewhere around the East 3rd Street area the driver of the SUV pulled alongside him and began shooting, striking him in the back of the head. He said the driver was heavyset and had long dreads.
Chattanooga Police observed a vehicle matching the suspect vehicle description and initiated a traffic stop in the 500 block of East 4th Street. Since Sorrell and the vehicle he was driving matched the description given to police by the victim, he was detained without incident.
Sorrell said he had no weapons in the vehicle. However, police recovered a loaded .22 WHR semi-automatic handgun and two magazines of ammunition under the driver’s seat.
The crime scene was later located at the 500 block of East 3rd Street, which was approximately one block from where the defendant was pulled over. Officers found a spent .22 caliber shell there.
Witnesses came forward shortly after the vehicle was stopped and gave police a description that matched the defendant and the suspect vehicle. Sorrell was transported to the Police Service Center for questioning and later placed under arrest.
He is next scheduled to appear before Judge Clarence Shattuck on Tuesday.