Birmingham, Alabama mass shooting: Search continues for suspects who killed 4, injured 17 in Five Points South neighborhood

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — Authorities reported no arrests following the incident Four people were killed and 17 were injured in a mass shooting over the weekend In what police described as a “targeted attack”, multiple gunmen opened fire outside a popular nightclub in Alabama.

The shooting late Saturday night in Birmingham’s popular Five Points South entertainment district rocked an area of ​​restaurants and bars that is usually bustling on weekend nights. The attack, one of several mass shootings in the big city this year, has left residents on edge and authorities home and out begging for help both to solve the crime and to address gun violence.

“Our priority is to find these shooters and get them off our streets,” Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said a day after the attack.

The mayor planned to hold a press conference Monday morning to give an update on the case.

The attack happened on Sunday morning on the sidewalk and street outside Hush, a venue in the entertainment district. Bloodstains were still visible on the sidewalk outside the venue.

Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond said authorities believe the hitman was likely targeting one of the people killed. A vehicle pulled up and “multiple shooters” got out and started shooting, then fled the scene, he said.

“We believe it was a ‘hit’ on that individual,” Thurmond said.

Police said about 100 shell casings were found. Thurmond said law enforcement was working to determine what weapons were used but believed some of the shots were “fully automatic.” Investigators were also trying to determine if anyone fired back, creating crossfire.

Police said late Sunday that the attackers were thought to have used “machine gun conversion devices” that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire more quickly.

Some surviving victims were seriously injured

Police officers found two men and a woman shot dead on the sidewalk and were pronounced dead there. A male gunshot victim was also pronounced dead at a hospital, according to police.

Police identified the three victims found on the sidewalk as Anitra Holloman, 21, of the Birmingham suburb of Bessemer, Tahj Booker, 27, of Birmingham, and Carlos McCain, 27, of Birmingham. The fourth victim, who was pronounced dead at the hospital, was awaiting identification.

By early Sunday, victims began arriving at hospitals, and police later identified 17 people with injuries, some in life-threatening conditions. Four of the surviving victims were being treated at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital on Sunday afternoon, in good to critical condition, according to hospital spokeswoman Alicia Rohan.

Popular nightclub rocked by gunshots

The Birmingham area where the shooting occurred is a popular destination among young adults because of its proximity to the University of Alabama and the abundance of restaurants and bars nearby.

The shooting was the 31st mass killing in 2024, 23 of which were shootings, according to James Alan Fox, a criminologist and professor at Northeastern University who oversees a database of mass killings maintained jointly by the university by the Associated Press and USA Today.

Three of the country’s 23 mass shootings this year have occurred in Birmingham, including two earlier quadruple homicides.

Mayor calls for solution to gun violence

Woodfin expressed his frustration with the epidemic of gun violence in America and in the city.

“We find ourselves in 2024, gun violence is at epidemic levels, an epidemic crisis in our country. And the city of Birmingham, unfortunately, finds itself at the tip of that spear,” he said. ___

Associated Press writer Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee, contributed to this report.