Four dead in mass shooting near University of Alabama

Four people were shot dead and dozens injured after several gunmen opened fire on a crowd in the streets of Birmingham, Alabama, near the city's university.

“We believe that shortly after 11 p.m. local time, multiple shooters fired multiple shots at a group of people in the Five Points South neighborhood of Birmingham,” police officer Truman Fitzgerald told local media.

Officers found two adult men and one adult woman lying unconscious on the sidewalk suffering from a gunshot wound, Fitzgerald said. All three were pronounced dead at the scene.

A fourth victim died in a local hospital, he added.

Dozens of people were injured in the shooting, and at least four suffered life-threatening injuries, Fitzgerald said.

The others had “various injuries,” he added.