Four killed in mass shooting by ‘multiple gunmen’ in Alabama
Four people were shot dead and dozens left injured after ‘multiple gunmen’ opened fire on a crowd in the streets of Birmingham, Alabama, near the city’s university.
“We believe that multiple shooters fired multiple shots on a group of people” in the Five Points South district of Birmingham just after 11pm local time, police officer Truman Fitzgerald told local media.
The area has numerous entertainment venues, restaurants and bars and often is crowded on Saturday nights.
Detectives are investigating whether the gunmen walked up to the victims or shot from a vehicle in a drive-by type attack.
Officers found two men and one woman unresponsive on the pavement suffering from gunshot wounds, Mr Fitzgerald said. All three were pronounced dead at the scene. A fourth victim died at a local hospital and dozens of people were wounded with at least four sustaining life-threatening injuries, he added.
The shots were fired outside Hush, a hookah and cigar lounge.
Police believe the shooting was not random and stemmed from an isolated incident and officers are trying to identify the intended target, according to reports.
Police told local news station WVTM they think Glock switches were used in the attack. Glock switches are devices used to turn a handgun into a machine gun.
Police do not have anyone in custody over the shooting, Mr Fitzgerald confirmed, and urged the public to provide any information that could help the investigation.
Several agencies are involved in the investigation, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Fire rescue services were at the scene Saturday night and had cordoned off the area.
This year, there have been at least 403 mass shootings - defined as a shooting involving at least four victims, dead or wounded - across the United States, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
At least 12,416 people have been killed in firearms violence this year in the United States, according to the GVA.
