Birmingham leaders plead for information on mass shooting and announce reward money

 1640592848 
1727095837

The scene of a fatal Saturday night shooting outside Hush, a hookah lounge, in the Five Points South neighborhood of Birmingham, Ala., Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024.

AP Photo, Vasha Hunt

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Officials in Birmingham, Alabama, pleaded Monday with members of the public for information leading to arrests in a weekend mass shooting that killed four people and injured more than a dozen others, announcing rewards totaling $100,000.

“I want to make myself very clear on what the priority is: It is to hunt down, capture, arrest and convict the people who are responsible for this mass shooting.” Mayor Randall Woodfin said at a news conference Monday with other officials.

Authorities have still made no arrests after Saturday’s shooting killed four people and left 17 others injured. Police described it as a targeted “hit” on someone by multiple shooters who opened fire on a crowd waiting in line outside a nightspot in Birmingham’s bustling Five Points South district.

Police believe that the shooters targeted at least one of the victims and that others were killed or injured in the barrage of gunfire, Chief Scott Thurmond said. Five of the injured victims remain in the hospital, he said. The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward, and Crime Stoppers is offering $50,000, officials said. Tipsters can remain anonymous.

The shooting — Birmingham’s third quadruple homicide of the year — has put a spotlight on a city once best known for its role in the Civil Rights Movement but more recently plagued by gun violence.

Three of the nation’s 31 mass shootings this year occurred in Birmingham, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University. Birmingham, a city of about 200,000, has seen 114 homicides this year. Chicago, with more than 10 times the population, has seen a little over 400 homicides this year.

Saturday’s shooting rocked an area of restaurants and bars that is often busy on weekend nights. It occurred on the sidewalk and street outside Hush Lounge as a long line of people waited to enter. Blood stains remained on the sidewalk until firefighters washed them away later Sunday.

Police identified the three victims found on the sidewalk as Anitra Holloman, 21, of the Birmingham suburb of Bessemer, Tahj Booker, 27, of Birmingham, and Carlos McCain, 27, of Birmingham. The fourth victim was identified Monday as Roderick Lynn Patterson Jr., 26.

Police said about 100 shell casings were recovered. In a statement late Sunday, police said the shooters are believed to have used “machine gun conversion devices” that make semiautomatic weapons fire more rapidly.

“We’re looking at whether the switch was used in this particular case, or was this an assault rifle that was fully automatic or some other type of weapon,” Thurmond said Monday.

The Birmingham mayor had urged state and federal officials to give cities more tools to address gun violence. He put both hands behind his back Monday to illustrate what it is like for cities to combat crime. Alabama last year abolished the requirement to get a permit to carry a concealed handgun in public.

“This mass shooting has a heavy toll of the community as a whole, but nothing more harmful than the emotional and physical pain of these actual victims,” Woodfin said.

___

This story has been corrected to show that there have been 31 mass killings in the nation this year, not 23 mass shootings.

 

Finland detains Russia-linked vessel over damaged undersea power cable in Baltic Sea

Finnish authorities detained a ship linked to neighboring Russia that Finnish customs officials and the European Union's executive commission describe as part of Russia's shadow fleet of fuel tankers.

Richard Parsons, who steadied Time Warner and Citigroup, dies at 76

Parsons, one of corporate America's most prominent Black executives who held top posts at Time Warner and Citigroup, was known as a skilled negotiator, a diplomat and a crisis manager.

The ‘Beyoncé Bowl’ halftime show was a massive hit for Netflix. The football was too

Netflix says more than 200 countries tuned into the "Beyoncé Bowl" and its two NFL games. We may just be starting to learn what that ultimately means for the future of television and sports media.

Bird flu has killed 20 big cats including cougars at a U.S. wildlife sanctuary

The sanctuary in Washington state said it was working with officials to determine the cause of the outbreak, which has killed over half of its cats in recent weeks.

Israel strikes Houthi targets in Yemen’s capital. WHO chief says he was nearby

A round of Israeli airstrikes targeted the Houthi rebel-held capital and multiple ports. The head of the World Health Organization said the bombardment occurred as he prepared to board a flight.

Public Radio’s Favorite Live Sessions of 2024

Watch in-studio videos from Rosanne Cash, Nathaniel Rateliff and more.

More Crime Coverage