CHEATHAM COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) – Cheatham County deputies are on the lookout for an armed and dangerous man who reportedly fired as many as 20 shots at residents, their cars and their homes Sunday morning.
According to investigators, the incident happened around 7:30 a.m. on Interstate Circle in Chapmansboro. Seven people, including three little kids, were in a small home.
That’s when investigators said 48-year-old Chris Whitaker banged on the door, initiating a wild scene that quickly escalated into a shootout between the wanted man and the residents in that home.
“It’s a little spooky when they shoot at you like that,” one resident said.
“We were scared he was going to come back. He shot at the kid’s car,” another resident added.
As deputies investigated the shootout between Whitaker and the residents, other investigators found over a dozen shell casings and bullets in the driveway, street, and grass.
There were also multiple bullet holes in multiple vehicles.
“I’m worried about him coming back, you know what I mean?” a resident said.
According to investigators, Whitaker knew a woman in the home and he reportedly came to the home to speak with her, but when he started banging on the door early Sunday morning, the residents told him he was on private property and had to leave.
One thing led to another and it boiled over as deputies said Whitaker grabbed his gun and opened fire, but investigators confirmed that residents in the house fired back, striking the pick up truck that Whitaker was driving.
“I just got out of the shower. I mean, I am literally in the shower and someone’s beating on it. I’m like, ‘Who is beating on my door?'”
Deputies told News 2 Whitaker used an AR-style rifle during the incident.
A resident said this to deputies as he held a pretend rifle and shot to illustrate what it looked like, “He’s backing out, and he stops and the next thing you know, bam bam bam bam bam.”
A Pleasant View officer heard the shots fired call and began traveling north toward the scene. Just moments later, Whitaker’s pickup truck flew past the officer, traveling south.
The officer then turned around and began following Whitaker.
It’s clear from dash camera footage that at least one of Whitaker’s front tires was flat as he traveled close to 70 mph. Dash camera shows him almost t-bone multiple motorists.
That’s when Pleasant View’s police chief called off the pursuit.
It’s not long before investigators from the Tennessee Highway Patrol, Metro police, and Cheatham County converged on a home along Clarksville Pike where Whitaker wrecked the truck into a garage outbuilding.
Carolyn Moon has owned the home for 30 years and said her granddaughter was moments from walking into the driveway with Moon’s great grandbaby when Whitaker violently crashed before running away.
The outbuilding was severely damaged.
Moon said the truck missed her granddaughter’s car by a few feet.
Whitaker escaped on foot and he and his weapon were long gone before officers arrived.
“It was scary. It was really scary,” moon said.
News 2 learned that on Sept. 18, 2021, Whitaker was at a home in Metro Nashville on E. Old Hickory Boulevard.
According to the arrest affidavit, Whitaker and another man got into an argument and the document stated that Whitaker pulled a gun from about four feet away and fired at the other man, missing.
Whitaker fled the scene; since that time, he has been free.
Then on May 17, Goodlettsville police told News 2 they received a welfare check at a local motel near the interstate.
That’s where they found Whitaker and arrested him in connection with the September 2021 incident on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
According to the Metro Jail, Whitaker posted a $28,000 bond and was released on May 19.
Two days later, he allegedly got into a gun fight in the front yard of the Chapmansboro home. Whitaker is facing nine charges for that incident, including aggravated assault and multiple counts of reckless endangerment and evading arrest.
If you see him, call 911.
