17 hurt in Birmingham shooting, Alabama police say
Four were killed and 17 more were injured in a shooting in Birmingham, Alabama, police said Sunday. Some of the people wounded suffered "life-threatening injures," Birmingham Police Officer Truman Fitzgerald said at a news conference, hours after the incident that occurred in what he called one of the city's "most popular entertainment districts."
Police think that a big group of people, maybe even several dozen people, had at least some as an enormous crowd of people outside near Magnolia Avenue in the Five Points South area. The shooting took place around 11:10 p.m. CST.
Two men and one woman were pronounced dead at the scene, said Birmingham Fire and Rescue. Police officers arrived to find them lying on the sidewalk unconscious and described to the media that each of them had multiple gunshot wounds.
They were identified Sunday night as Anitra Holloman, 21, Tahj Booker, 27, and Carlos McCain, 27.
Another victim, a 28-year-old adult male, was pronounced dead by staff at University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital.
Four of the injured victims were in critical condition, police said. UAB Hospital received 12 victims, including one of those who were killed, according to the Birmingham Police Department.
Detectives believe the shooting wasn't random. Police said in a statement that they think it "stemmed from an isolated incident where multiple victims were caught in the crossfire." Police said one of the people who was killed is believed to be the shooting's intended target.
No one was under arrest Sunday evening, but Fitzgerald told reporters earlier that police "will do everything we possibly can to make sure we uncover, identify and hunt down whoever is responsible for preying on our people this morning. "
Police said more than 100 shell casings were recovered and they believe the guns were equipped with illegal switches that turned them into a fully automatic weapons.
"Right now my mind is on the families who are experiencing a sudden, giant void in their lives. The innocent people currently under medical care fighting for their lives. The children who are experiencing loss and grief far, far too soon," Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said Sunday. "I hope the perpetrators of this crime know how deep this trauma goes. There are families, and children in immeasurable pain. There's an entire community mourning. Those are the consequences of your actions."
Woodfin earlier said that, "Glock switches are the number one public safety issue in our city and state."
"Although this is federally illegal, no state law makes glock switches illegal," Woodfin said. "Every Mayor, Police Chief, Sheriff, and District Attorney I know wants glock switches outlawed. To convert a semi-automatic weapon into a fully automatic weapon that discharges all bullets within seconds does not belong on our domestic streets."
Police are looking into the incident with help from the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and they urge anyone with information to contact the homicide division in Birmingham or anonymously with Crime Stoppers, where the latter could offer up to $5,000.
The campus of the University of Alabama at Birmingham is located in the Five Points South district, which forms one of the major entertainment districts of the city, with large crowds of people pouring in restaurants, bars, and live music venues, especially during the weekends
.
Comments