A shooting in north-central Alabama late Saturday night left four people dead and 18 injured, but no arrests have been made yet, authorities said Sunday.
Birmingham Police Department (BPD) officers responded to the Five Points South entertainment district in downtown Birmingham around 11 p.m. on reports of multiple shots fired. BPD Video Report About that incident.
Officers reportedly found two men and one woman lying unconscious on the sidewalk with multiple gunshot wounds, along with several other gunshot victims nearby. Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service personnel pronounced the three original victims dead.
Nearby University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Hospital reported a fourth fatality, with one man dying at the hospital from a gunshot wound, BPD added.
Eighteen people suffered gunshot wounds ranging from non-life-threatening to life-threatening, according to BPD.
BPD added that multiple suspects fired shots into the crowd in the area and that a passerby was caught in the crossfire in what was not a random shooting.
BPD is investigating the case in conjunction with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
“We believe this was a targeted shooting … there was an individual who was targeted,” the BPD chief said. Scott Thurmond told reporters: At a press conference early Sunday morning.
“We believe the targeted individual is among those killed. We believe that individual was shot, so to speak,” Thurmond added, saying the shooting stemmed from an argument on the sidewalk. He called the shooting a “massacre.”
Investigators seized more than 100 shell casings, a gun and other evidence, Thurmond said. They are also reviewing surveillance footage. Investigators believe the gun used was a “fully automatic” weapon, Thurmond said.
The suspects reportedly fired shots from inside the vehicle and fled the scene. (RELATED: Video shows people trying to hide from deadly house party shooting)
He also offered his condolences to the families of the victims — “some are destroyed, others are simply changed” — and thanked the various municipal services and health facilities involved.
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin described the incident as “a true shame” and called for public responsibility at a press conference to “get these shooters and murderers off our streets.”[t]There are no words for the grief of the victims' families.”
Woodfin said gun violence in 2024 has “reached epidemic levels, an epidemic crisis in our country, and unfortunately the city of Birmingham is at the apex of that.”
— referring to the 1990s assault weapons ban.[a]”Not only in our country but in the city of Birmingham, we had the lowest gun violence we've had in 10 years,” Woodfin said.
“A lot has changed since the assault weapons ban was lifted,” Woodfin added.
