Alabama mass shooting: Search underway for suspects after 4 killed, 17 injured

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Authorities in Birmingham, Alabama, appealed to members of the public on Monday for information leading to arrests in a weekend mass shooting that killed four people and injured more than a dozen others, announcing that a total of Rewards are up to $100,000.

Authorities have yet to make any arrests after Saturday's shooting that killed four people and wounded 17 others. Police described the incident as a targeted "hit" by multiple shooters who opened fire on a crowd waiting in line outside a nightspot in Birmingham's bustling Five Points area.

Police believe the shooters targeted at least one of the victims and that others were killed or wounded in the shooting. Five of the wounded victims remain hospitalized, Chief Scott Thurmond said. The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward and Crime Stoppers is offering a $50,000 reward, authorities said. Informants can remain anonymous.

The shooting — Birmingham's third quadruple homicide this year — has focused attention on a city once best known for its role in the civil rights movement but recently plagued by gun violence.

Three of the 31 mass murders in the United States this year have occurred in Birmingham, according to a database maintained by the AP and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University. Birmingham, a city of about 200,000 people, has seen 114 murders this year. Chicago, with more than 10 times the population, has seen just over 400 murders this year.

Saturday's shooting shocked an area full of restaurants and bars that are usually busy on weekend nights. It happened on the sidewalk and street outside Hash Hall as a long line of people waited to get in. Blood stains remained on the sidewalk until firefighters washed them away Monday afternoon.

Police identified the three victims found on the sidewalk as Anitra Holman, 21, of Birmingham suburb Bessemer, Taj Booker, 27, of Birmingham, and Carlos McCain, 27, of Birmingham. The fourth victim was identified Monday as Roderick Lane Patterson Jr., 26.

About 100 shell casings were recovered, police said. Police said in a statement Sunday that the shooters are believed to have used "machine gun conversion devices" that make semi-automatic weapons fire faster.

"We're looking into whether that switch was used in this particular case or whether it was an assault rifle that was fully automatic or some other type of weapon," Thurmond said Monday.

Birmingham's mayor called on state and federal officials to give cities more tools to deal with gun violence. On Monday, he put both hands behind his back to show what fighting crime looks like for cities. Last year, Alabama repealed the requirement to obtain a permit to carry a concealed firearm in public.

"This mass shooting takes a heavy toll on society as a whole, but nothing is more damaging than the emotional and physical pain of these real victims," ​​Woodfin said.

news source