4 dead and 18 injured in mass shooting in Birmingham, Alabama police say

Four people were killed and 18 others injured in a shooting in Birmingham, Alabama, police said Sunday. Some of those injured suffered “life-threatening injuries,” Birmingham police Officer Truman Fitzgerald said at a news conference hours after the incident, which occurred in one of the city's “most popular entertainment districts.”

Police believe multiple suspects fired shots at a large group of people standing outside near Magnolia Avenue in the Five Points South neighborhood. The shooting occurred just after 11 p.m. CST.

Two men and a woman were pronounced dead at the scene by the Birmingham Fire Department. When police arrived, they found them lying unconscious on a sidewalk. Each of them had multiple gunshot wounds.

A fourth shooting victim, another man, was pronounced dead by University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital staff. Police also identified him as an adult male.

Investigators believe the shooting was not random. Police said in a statement that they believe it was “an isolated incident in which multiple victims were caught in the crossfire.” They are still working to determine who was targeted in the shooting.

No arrests were made early Sunday morning, but Fitzgerald told reporters that police “will do everything in their power to ensure that we locate, identify and bring to justice whoever is responsible for the attacks on our people this morning.”

Police said they are investigating jointly with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. They asked anyone with information to contact the Birmingham Police Department's Homicide Unit or report tips anonymously to Crime Stoppers, which can pay up to $5,000 for tips, according to police.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham campus is located in the Five Points South neighborhood, the center of the city's nightlife, where numerous restaurants, bars and live music venues attract large crowds, especially on weekends.