What we know about the Birmingham shooting that left 4 people dead

Several people opened fire in a busy neighborhood in Birmingham, Alabama, on Saturday night, killing four people and injuring 17 others. As of Sunday evening, police had not made any arrests.

Officers responded to reports of a shooting in Five Points South in Birmingham after 11 p.m. ET and found three “unresponsive” people who were later pronounced dead, according to Birmingham police Officer Truman Fitzgerald. A fourth victim, a man, was pronounced dead at an area hospital, according to hospital personnel.

In a news release Sunday, police identified three of the four people killed as Anitra Holloman, 21, Tahj Booker, 27, and Carlos McCain, 27. Authorities are still working to identify the final male victim.

According to Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond, 17 other people were injured. At least four victims were critically injured, Fitzgerald said.

With no suspects in custody, Birmingham police are working with the FBI and other agencies to investigate. Anyone with information is urged to come forward. Authorities believe the fatal shooting was a targeted “hit.”

Here’s what we know about the mass shooting:

Targeted attack

Police believe the shooters attempted to murder one person and that the other victims were caught in the crossfire.

“Someone was willing to pay money to kill this person,” Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond said Sunday.

Investigators are “still working to determine who the intended target of the shooting was,” police said in Sunday's press release.

More than 100 cartridge cases were recovered at the crime scene, Thurmond added.

The city is determined to find the shooters involved, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin told CNN. “Our focus and priority is literally the shooter or shooters who committed this heinous crime – to make sure we can get them off the streets,” he said.

Five Points South is a bustling neighborhood near the University of Alabama at Birmingham campus and downtown, known for its restaurants, nightclubs, pubs and live music venues.

Like a “horror film”

Gabriel Eslami, 24, was standing in line outside the Hush shisha bar around 11 p.m. when gunfire broke out.

“All of a sudden, all you could hear was gunshots, gunshots, gunshots,” Eslami told CNN. “I ran for my life.” Less than three seconds later, Eslami said, he could no longer feel his leg and fell to the ground.

What he saw next, Eslami described as a “horror film.”

“There are bodies all over the sidewalk, gun smoke in the air. There are shoes. People were running out of their shoes and trying to escape. I saw people hiding behind cars or lying under cars,” he said.

Eslami was taken to hospital to be treated for his gunshot wound, which doctors told him was caused by a bullet that passed just millimeters from his artery. “I don't have the words to describe how I feel knowing that I was lucky to get away with minimal injuries and that some people didn't get to go home that night,” he said.

Dajon Singleton told CNN affiliate WBMA that he had been out all night and was about to go from bar to bar when he heard “grieving cries.”

“I knew immediately that someone had lost a loved one,” he said.

When Singleton arrived at the scene, “there were people everywhere. People crying, screaming, I saw people running, so it was very busy,” he told WBMA. Singleton also saw five or six people on a stretcher.

Mayor: Gun violence in Birmingham has reached ‘epidemic proportions’

Woodfin said gun violence in Birmingham had reached “epidemic proportions” and called for stricter laws to combat the problem.

“I want to work with the state to solve this problem,” he said.

While crime rates are declining across the country, Birmingham saw an increase earlier this year.

FBI data shows that the murder rate nationwide fell by more than 26% in the first three months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. As of March 4, Birmingham police reported 17 murders this year, compared to 12 in the same period last year, an increase of 41.7%.

A shooting at a nightclub in July left four people dead and ten others injured, according to CNN affiliate WVRC. In February, four men were shot outside a public library, CNN affiliate WVTM reported.

Police believe the shooters used illegal weapon conversion devices, the department said in its press release on Sunday. These devices can be used to bypass a weapon's trigger mechanism so that it functions as a machine gun.

Conversion devices “can convert semi-automatic pistols and rifles into fully automatic weapons in less than 60 seconds,” according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The federal government considers the small devices themselves to be illegal machine guns. Their possession is illegal even without an associated firearm.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Birmingham announced an initiative in July to combat these devices, commonly known as “switches.”

“Glock switches are the biggest public safety issue in our city and state,” Woodfin said in a Facebook post. “We really need the help of state lawmakers. Ban Glock switches.”

Fitzgerald, the Birmingham police officer, said mass shootings have “more to do with culture than crime,” adding: “We see far too many confrontations that are decided by gunfire.”

“Your loss will do you justice”

The mayor said his focus was on supporting the families of the victims.

“Right now, my thoughts are with the families who are experiencing a sudden, huge void in their lives. The innocent people currently undergoing medical treatment and fighting for their lives,” Woodfin said in a statement posted on Facebook. “The children who are experiencing loss and grief far, far too soon.”

“I hope the perpetrators of this crime know how deep this trauma runs. There are families and children who are suffering immeasurable pain,” Woodfin added. “Anyone affected by last night's violence should know that their city cries with them,” he said.

“Your loss will do you justice.”

Authorities have set up a QR code for anyone wishing to share information about the mass shooting.

CNN's Zoe Sottile and Raja Razek contributed to this report.

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