BIRMINGHAM, Alabama: Four people were killed and 17 others injured when multiple shooters opened fire Saturday in what police described as a targeted “hit” on one of the people killed at a popular nightlife spot in Birmingham, Alabama.
The shooting happened shortly after 11 p.m. Saturday in Five Points South, a district filled with entertainment venues, restaurants and bars that is often crowded on weekend nights.
The mass shooting, one of several this year in the city, unnerved residents and left city officials pleading for help to both solve the crime and 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 at a Sunday press conference.
The shooting occurred on the sidewalk and street outside Hush, a lounge in the entertainment district. Blood stains were visible on the sidewalk outside the venue on Sunday morning.
Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond said authorities believe the shooting targeted one of the people who was killed, possibly in a murder-for-hire. He said a vehicle pulled up and “multiple shooters” got out and began firing, then fled the scene.
“We believe that there was a ‘hit,’ if you will, on that particular person,” Thurmond said.
Police said approximately 100 shell casings were recovered at the scene. Thurmond said law enforcement was working to determine what weapons were used, but they believe some of the gunfire was “fully automatic.” Investigators were also trying to determine whether anyone fired back, creating crossfire.
In a statement late Sunday, police said the shooters are believed to have used “machine gun conversion devices.” The devices make semi-automatic weapons fire more rapidly.
Some surviving victims critically injured
Police said officers found two men and a woman on a sidewalk with gunshot wounds and they were pronounced dead there. An additional male gunshot victim was 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 pronounced dead at the hospital was pending identification.
By early Sunday, after victims began showing up at hospitals, police had identified 17 people with injuries, some of them life-threatening. Four of the surviving victims, in conditions ranging from good to critical, were being treated at the University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital on Sunday afternoon, according to Alicia Rohan, a UAB spokeswoman.
Gabriel Eslami, 24, of Trussville, said he was in a long line of people waiting to get into the club when “all of the sudden, gun shots everywhere.”
He took off running. “I look back and there are bodies laid out on the sidewalk with gun smoke still in the air. It looked like something from a horror movie,” Eslami said.
He said he didn’t realize he was wounded until he suddenly lost feeling in his leg. A friend took him to the hospital, where he was treated and released.
