Search underway for suspects in Alabama mass shooting that left 4 dead and 17 injured

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (AP) — Authorities said there were no immediate arrests after a weekend mass shooting left four people dead and 17 others wounded in what police described as a targeted “attack” by multiple gunmen who opened fire outside a popular Alabama nightspot.

The shooting late Saturday night in Birmingham’s popular Five Points South entertainment district rocked an area of ​​restaurants and bars that often bustles on weekend nights. The mass shooting, one of several in the city this year, unnerved residents and left officials at home and abroad pleading for help both to solve the crime and to address the broader problem of gun violence.

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

The mayor scheduled a press conference for Monday morning to provide updates on the case.

The shooting occurred on the sidewalk and street outside Hush, a lounge in the entertainment district. Bloodstains were still visible on the sidewalk in front of the venue on Sunday morning.

Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond said authorities believe the shooting targeted one of the people killed, possibly in a homicide. A vehicle pulled over and “multiple shooters” got out and began shooting before fleeing the scene, he said.

“We believe there was a ‘hit,’ if you want to call it that, on that particular individual,” Thurmond said.

Police said about 100 shell casings were recovered. Thurmond said police were working to determine what weapons were used, but they believe some of the gunfire was “fully automatic.” Investigators were also trying to determine if anyone returned fire, causing crossfire.

In a statement Sunday evening, police said the gunmen are believed to have used “machine gun conversion devices” that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire more rapidly.

Some surviving victims are seriously injured

Officers found two men and a woman on a sidewalk with gunshot wounds and pronounced them dead. Another male gunshot victim was pronounced dead at a hospital, police said.

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 was pronounced dead at the hospital pending identification.

Victims began arriving at hospitals in the early hours of Sunday, and police subsequently identified 17 people with injuries, some of them life-threatening. Four of the surviving victims, in condition ranging from good to critical, were being treated Sunday afternoon at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital, said Alicia Rohan, a spokeswoman for the hospital.

A popular nightspot rocked by gunfire

The area of ​​Birmingham where the shooting took place is popular with young adults because of its proximity to the University of Alabama at Birmingham and the many restaurants and bars nearby.

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

Three of the nation’s 23 mass shootings this year have occurred in Birmingham, including two previous quadruple homicide shootings.

Mayor calls for a solution to gun violence

Woodfin expressed frustration over what he described as an epidemic of gun violence in America and the city.

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

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