MARION COUNTY, Tenn. — After 22 years of service, an East Ridge firefighter fulfilled one of his dreams: buying a boat.

But on his way home with that boat, Thomas Finch says he was unexpectedly shot at.

"Was just about to reach the Suck Creek area when our boat got shot at. We didn't realize at first."

Finch says for as long as he could remember, he’s wanted to own a boat like this one:

But after purchasing it in Scottsboro, Alabama something unexpected happened on the vessel's first voyage.

"Its pretty nerve wracking just to know we were away from that section of the river."

Finch says as they were traveling along the River Canyon Road area in Marion County, their boat was shot at three times.

"I called the Coast Guard and let them know the mile marker it happened at, which was four 50.4 on the river. And then I called Marion County Sheriff's Department and filed a report with them."

Finch says one shot struck the rear of our boat, narrowly missing hid son's black Lab that was with them.

He says it was surprising, but her learned from other boaters about similar experiences.

"I've talked to a lot of boaters in the area, people that travel that section of river, and I mean, as far back as you know, 30 to 40 years, people have talked about getting shot at on that part of the river."

We reached out to the Marion County Sherriff's Office.

They tell us do not have any further information to share as detectives are currently investigating.

Finch says he’s just worried about the possible dangers future boaters may face.

"I worry about, you know, the Fourth of July coming up, and we've got a lot of people that'll be on the river, and I know a lot of people use that part of the river."

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency says they will be participating in Operation Dry Water, cracking down on boating under the influence during the 4th of July weekend.