$100,000 reward offered for suspects at large after 4 killed, 17 wounded in Alabama shooting
Authorties are offering $100,000 in an effort to find and capture suspects after four people were killed and 17 more were injured in a shooting late Saturday night in Birmingham, Alabama.
Some of the wounded individuals suffered "life-threatening injures," according to Birmingham Police Officer Truman Fitzgerald, who spoke at a news conference hours after the shooting in what he called one of the city's "most popular entertainment districts." The police department had said 18 people were wounded in the shooting and revised the number to 17.
Twelve victims who were treated in hospitals had been discharged by Monday morning, Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond told reporters. The other five remained hospitalized. Police previously said four of the wounded victims were in critical condition.
Authorities have not yet identified any suspects or people of interest as they investigate the mass shooting. They are offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of whomever was responsible, with the FBI's Birmingham office and Crime Stoppers putting forward $50,000 each. All tips can be reported anonymously.
Fitzgerald said Sunday that police "will do everything we possibly can to make sure we uncover, identify and hunt down whoever is responsible for preying on our people this morning."
Police said they believe multiple suspects fired at a large group of people standing outside near Magnolia Avenue in the Five Points South area, a nightlife hub in the city where the University of Alabama at Birmingham campus is located. They were in line at the downtown nightclub Hush, CBS affiliate WIAT reported. The shooting happened just after 11 p.m. CT.
Two men and one woman were pronounced dead at the scene by Birmingham Fire and Rescue. Police officers found them lying unresponsive on a sidewalk when they arrived. Each had multiple gunshot wounds.
They were identified Sunday night as Anitra Holloman, 21; Tahj Booker, 27; and Carlos McCain, 27.
"She had a life ahead of her. She had a mom who loved her dearly. That was my best little friend," Holloman's mother, Candance Kemp, told CBS News. "You took somebody that I really, really loved. My baby didn't deserve that."
Holloman leaves behind a 1-year-old daughter, Skilar. Her former partner and the father of their daughter was also a victim of gun violence in Birmingham, her mother said.
"I just know that I am going to be the best grandmother that I can be to my Skilar and I'm going to protect her very, very closely," Kemp said.
A fourth gunshot victim, an adult man, was pronounced dead by staff at University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital. UAB Hospital received 12 victims, including one of the people who were killed, according to the Birmingham Police Department.
Detectives believe the shooting wasn't random, and the suspects may have been contracted in a murder-for-hire plot. Police said in a statement Sunday that they thought it "stemmed from an isolated incident where multiple victims were caught in the crossfire," and one of the deceased was believed to be the shooting's intended target.
Some of the individuals killed had "extensive criminal histories," Thurmond told reporters. The police chief said "there's often motivation" because of that since there could be "people willing to pay to have them killed."
But authorities are still working to narrow down a possible motive. They're also trying to determine whether the shooter or shooters opened fire Saturday night using a "switch," which is a device that when attached to a semi-automatic pistol can convert the weapon into a fully automatic firearm. The illegal device is considered a machine gun under federal law, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
"Fully automatic weapons don't belong on the streets of Birmingham, and they don't belong on the streets of the United States today," Thurmond said Monday.
Police said more than 100 shell casings were recovered from the scene.
"Right now my mind is on the families who are experiencing a sudden, giant void in their lives. The innocent people currently under medical care fighting for their lives. The children who are experiencing loss and grief far, far too soon," Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said Sunday. "I hope the perpetrators of this crime know how deep this trauma goes. There are families and children in immeasurable pain. There's an entire community in mourning. Those are the consequences of your actions."
Woodfin in an earlier statement said, "Glock switches are the number one public safety issue in our city and state."
"Though illegal under federal law, there is no state law that makes glock switches illegal," Woodfin said. "Every Mayor, Police Chief, Sheriff, and District Attorney I know wants glock switches outlawed. Converting a semi-automatic weapon into a fully automatic weapon that discharges all bullets within seconds doesn't belong on our domestic streets."
Birmingham police are investigating alongside ATF as well as the FBI. They have asked anyone with information to contact the homicide division at the Birmingham Police Department, Crime Stoppers or the FBI.