Birmingham shocked: Search for four dead in Alabama intensifies

(This story has been updated to add new information.)

Authorities in Alabama were searching Monday for several suspects who opened fire in Birmingham's busy entertainment district over the weekend, killing four people, injuring 17 and shocking the city's residents.

According to Birmingham police, the shooters fired at “a large group of people” around 11 p.m. Saturday in the Five Points South neighborhood, a busy area of ​​shops, bars and restaurants a few blocks from the University of Alabama at Birmingham campus.

Police said the shooters targeted at least one person, possibly in a contract killing. According to the latest press release, detectives are working to determine who the intended target of the shooting was.

“Investigators believe the shooting was not random, but rather an isolated incident in which multiple victims were caught in the crossfire,” the press release said.

At the scene, Birmingham Fire Department pronounced three people dead; another person died a short time later at a local hospital. Birmingham Police identified the victims as Anitra Holloman, 21, Tahj Booker, 27, Carlos McCain, 27, and Roderick Lynn Patterson Jr., 26.

A total of 17 people were injured, four of them in critical condition, police spokesman Truman Fitzgerald said in an email on Monday morning. At a press conference, Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond said five victims were still in the hospital and 12 had already been released.

Officials say shooters with modified weapons hit

Thurmond told reporters that the shooters targeted one person – who was among the victims – and that the others were hit in the hail of bullets.

“We assume that this was an attack on this particular person,” he said at the weekend.

More than 100 shell casings were found at the scene, Thurmond said. Police officials have not identified the shooters or a motive for the shooting.

Both police and Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said the shooters likely modified their weapons with Glock “switches,” which are devices that can convert semi-automatic handguns into automatic weapons.

“This is unfortunately not the first time in 2024 that we've seen these types of weapons and the number of bullets on the ground… that automatic weapons are being used on our streets,” Woodfin said at a news conference.

Alabama state lawmakers pushed to enact a state ban on these devices, but that effort failed in the last legislative session.

Federal authorities are assisting with the investigation; reward up to $100,000

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are assisting local police in the investigation, Birmingham police said in a statement.

The FBI on Monday offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction. Crime Stoppers, an anonymous tips service, also offered $50,000 for information leading to the solving of the case.

“The priority is to find these shooters and get them off our streets,” Woodfin said at a news conference.

According to non-profit organization, more than 400 mass shootings will be recorded in the USA this year

The Birmingham shooting was the 404th mass shooting in the U.S. this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit that defines mass shootings as incidents involving four or more victims.

The incident is the latest shooting to rock Birmingham this year. In July, four people died in a shooting at a nightclub. That same month, three people were killed in a shooting, including a five-year-old child.

At a press conference on Sunday, Woodfin called on lawmakers to ban assault weapons, saying, “Elected officials at the local, state and national levels have a duty to solve this American crisis.”

Contributors: John Bacon, USA TODAY; Marty Roney and Victor Hagan, Montgomery Advertiser

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Birmingham shooting updates: Search for multiple shooters intensifies