Four dead and 17 injured after gunfire erupts at popular nightlife area in Birmingham, Alabama, police say

Paradise Afshar, Lauren Mascarenhas and Raja Razek, CNN

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (CNN) — Four group were killed and 17 others were injured erstwhile aggregate shooters opened occurrence Saturday evening successful a bustling intermezo territory successful Birmingham, Alabama, successful what constabulary now judge was a targeted “hit.”

Just aft 11 p.m., aggregate group drove up to nan Five Points South area, exited their conveyance and began shooting, past returned to their conveyance and drove away, Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond said Sunday.

Police judge nan shooters were carrying retired a deed connected 1 individual, who is among nan deceased, and nan different victims were caught successful nan crossfire.

“Someone was consenting to salary money to person that personification killed,” Thurmond said.

With nary suspects successful custody, nan Birmingham Police Department is partnering pinch nan FBI and different agencies to investigate, urging anyone pinch accusation to travel forward.

It’s imaginable that weapon conversion devices, sometimes referred to arsenic “switches,” were utilized successful nan shooting, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said. These devices tin beryllium utilized to override nan trigger system connected a gun, truthful it functions arsenic a instrumentality gun.

The US Attorney’s agency successful Birmingham announced an inaugural cracking down connected nan forbidden devices successful July.

Woodfin said weapon unit is astatine an “epidemic level” successful Birmingham.

“I want to activity pinch nan authorities to lick this problem,” he said.

When officers arrived astatine nan segment Saturday night, they recovered 2 men and a female unresponsive pinch gunshot wounds, and each 3 were later pronounced dormant connected nan scene, Birmingham Police Officer Truman Fitzgerald said.

A 4th victim, an big male, was pronounced dormant astatine nan University of Alabama Hospital, according to infirmary staff. Police antecedently said that 18 victims were injured.

The gunfire extends nan database of astatine slightest 403 wide shootings successful nan United States truthful acold this year, according to nan Gun Violence Archive. The archive, for illustration CNN, defines a wide shooting arsenic 1 successful which astatine slightest 4 group are shot, excluding nan shooter.

Birmingham has seen aggregate wide shootings this year.

A shooting astatine a nightclub successful nan metropolis successful July near 4 group dormant and 10 others injured, according to CNN connection WVRC, and 4 men were changeable and killed extracurricular a nationalist room successful February, CNN connection WVTM reported.

Five Points South is simply a engaged area known for its restaurants, nighttime clubs, pubs and unrecorded euphony venues adjacent nan University of Alabama astatine Birmingham field and downtown.

The victims successful Alabama were each retired successful nan unfastened connected nan sidewalk aliases connected nan streets, Fitzgerald said.

More gunshot victims were identified successful nan area, and different victims arrived astatine section hospitals, Fitzgerald said. The University of Alabama astatine Birmingham Hospital received 11 of nan victims, including 1 of nan group who died, Hannah Echols, a infirmary spokesperson told CNN. The conditions of nan victims person not been released.

At slightest 4 victims person life-threatening injuries, Fitzgerald said.

“Rest assured, we are going to do everything we perchance tin to make judge that we uncover, place and hunt down who was ever responsible for preying connected our people,” he said.

Birmingham constabulary person asked that businesses successful nan area supply immoderate surveillance footage they mightiness have.

Fitzgerald said wide shootings “have much to do pinch civilization than they do criminality,” adding that “we’re seeing acold excessively galore arguments being settled by bullets.”

This is simply a processing communicative and will beryllium updated.

Police respond to nan wide shooting successful Birmingham, Alabama Saturday night. | CNN