© Kara Hawley/Rockford Register Star / USA TODAY NETWORK
(Birmingham, AL) – Four people were killed and 17 others injured in a targeted shooting in Birmingham, Alabama’s busy Five Points South entertainment district on Saturday night. Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond said multiple shooters exited a vehicle and opened fire just after 11 p.m., then fled the scene. The attack appeared to be a “hit” on one specific individual, who is among the dead, while others were caught in the crossfire.
Thurmond confirmed that someone had paid to have the intended target killed. No suspects have been arrested, and the Birmingham Police Department is working with the FBI and other agencies to investigate.
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin suggested that illegal gun conversion devices, which can turn semi-automatic weapons into fully automatic ones, might have been used in the shooting. These devices are illegal under federal law.
The incident is part of a troubling rise in gun violence in Birmingham, which saw a 41.7% increase in murders earlier this year. The shooting is one of 404 mass shootings in the U.S. in 2024, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
Authorities are urging anyone with information or surveillance footage from nearby businesses to come forward.
