Alabama nightclub shooter used fully automatic pistol with ‘Glock switch’: authorities

The gunmen who opened fire outside a popular shisha bar on Saturday night, killing four people and wounding 17 others, likely used weapons with an illegal “switch” that allowed them to fire fully automatically – maximizing the number of casualties, authorities said.

According to police, the shooters singled out a single target standing outside a nightclub and fired down a busy street full of bars and restaurants popular with college students just blocks from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

“They were in a vehicle, got out, shots were fired and they fled in the vehicle,” Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurman told reporters.

The shooting lasted only moments, but police found more than 100 empty shell casings at the scene. Police believe at least one gun was equipped with a “Glock switch” that allowed the pistol to fire fully automatically, according to WVTM-TV.

Machine guns and other fully automatic weapons are illegal in the United States, with a few exceptions that require a burdensome federal license.

However, these illegal conversations have become a plague on the streets of Birmingham, Mayor Randall Woodfin told reporters.

“There's a certain element in this community that's too comfortable walking around with semi-automatic weapons, automatic weapons, convergence switches and everything else whose only desperate desire is to hurt people,” Woodfin said.

The shooters' actual target was in front of the Hush Cigar and Hookah Lounge, a basement club that often has long lines of people outside. The club is located in Birmingham's Five Points district, a trendy area popular with university students.

This is the third quadruple homicide in Birmingham this year. In July, four people were killed and nine others injured in a drive-by shooting at an adult birthday party. According to AL.com, the city saw 135 homicides in 2023.

Just hours after the murders, another shooting occurred at a different nightclub, but police say the two incidents are unrelated.

So far no arrests have been made, but the hunt for the shooters continues.