Four dead and 18 hurt in Alabama mass shooting
At least four people have been killed and 18 others injured in a mass shooting in Birmingham, Alabama, according to police.
Birmingham Police Officer Truman Fitzgerald reported that “multiple shooters fired several shots at a group of people” late Saturday in the Five Points South area.
Police discovered the bodies of two men and one woman at the scene, while a fourth victim, a man, later died from his injuries in the hospital, authorities said.
The attackers are believed to have arrived at the location in a vehicle, exited, and then opened fire. No arrests have been made yet.
Fitzgerald mentioned that the shooting appeared to be “targeted and not random,” as it was related to an isolated incident in which several victims were caught in the crossfire.
Police Chief Scott Thurmond suggested that the shooting may have been linked to a murder-for-hire scheme, according to local news source Al.com. The intended target was among those killed, Thurmond revealed during a press conference on Sunday.
“It wasn’t about the location, it was about the person. The shooting could have happened anywhere the individual was found,” Thurmond said. “That’s just where they happened to be.”
The other victims, who were all outside at the time, are believed to have been unintended targets caught in the gunfire.
Four of the injured suffered life-threatening wounds, according to Mr Fitzgerald.
The BBC has contacted the Birmingham Police Department for comment.
Authorities are also pressing to find the shooters.
The police said in a statement that they are working with the FBI and other federal agencies, are offering a $5,000 reward for information, and have opened a web portal for submitting photos and videos of the incident.
The Five Points South district is known for its nightlife. The shooting occurred on Magnolia Avenue, Mr Fitzgerald said.
Witnesses who were queuing outside a hookah and cigar lounge on Magnolia Avenue at the time told local news site Al.com that some of the gunfire sounded as though it came from a gun converted to be fully automatic.
Earlier on Sunday, Mr Fitzgerald had told reporters there were “dozens of gunshot victims” after the incident.
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin blamed “Glock switches” – devices that can be attached to handguns to make them fire automatically – for the violence, posting on social media on Sunday that they “are the number one public safety issue in our city and state”.
“Converting a semi-automatic weapon into a fully automatic weapon that discharges all bullets within seconds doesn’t belong on our domestic streets,” he wrote, adding that the city does not have the power to outlaw Glock switches, only the state.
He told CNN later on Sunday that more than 100 shell casings had been found at the crime scene.
There have been more than 400 mass shootings across the US so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more people are injured or killed.
The incident in Birmingham is the second mass shooting to place in the city in a two-month period, and the third quadruple homicide of 2024, according to Al.com.
