‘Five Points South is so much more than that’: residents reflect one month after mass shooting

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Residents of Five Points South in Birmingham enjoyed breakfast at Highlands United Methodist Church on a recent morning, directly across the street from the site of a mass shooting last month.

Kenneth Mays, who frequents the neighborhood for work, remembers the aftermath well. 

“I got to work and police were everywhere,” Mays said. “I could see blood on the sidewalk.” 

Four people were killed in the shooting on Magnolia Avenue on Saturday, September 21. 

“It was really sad,” Mays said. “Especially when I found out about this little girl, who was a 21-year-old. It was a memorable Sunday that I will never forget.” 

Mays referred here to the youngest of the victims: Anitra Holloman. 

Police arrested a 22-year-old suspect in connection with the crime. Damien McDaniel faces a charge of capital murder of two or more people along with 17 first degree assault charges for the people who were wounded during the shooting. 

But how is the neighborhood holding up in the weeks since? When talking to people who frequent the area, a myriad of emotions come out. 

“It was very disheartening,” Danny Jones of Five Points South said. “I mean in any community, but certainly close to home and close to places that are near me.”

“It’s pretty shocking … particularly when you look at the news article and learn that was the third time this year we’ve had four people killed in a single incident,” Dave Dresher of Five Points South added. 

Reggie Holder, director of ministries at Highlands United Methodist Church, said the violent incident was “sobering”. 

“As I understand it, the victims were on the sidewalk across the street,” Holder said, referencing the proximity of the church to the site of the crime. “I believe that when people were fleeing, the natural place for them was to come onto our side of the street.”

When he arrived at the church the morning after the shooting, Holder and other church staff discussed canceling the Sunday service. But they ended up holding it to offer as much normalcy to the neighborhood as possible.  

“We are in a unique place,” Holder said. “Not only are we concerned about people’s physical safety and well-being in this neighborhood where we’re concerned about their emotional and mental and spiritual health as well.”

Holder said staff and congregation alike are focusing on the positives of their community rather than fear.

“We want to come out on the better side of this in a different place,” Holder said. “A place that is safer for our congregants and our neighbors. We want this to be a place where people are safe and can thrive rather than fearful.”

A tone of resilience

Holder takes pride in the church being a gathering place for community groups. One of those groups is the Five Points Alliance, which represents the business community. Steve Alexander chairs that alliance and has lived in the neighborhood for a long time. 

Alexander said that business owners and residents have been working hard on a business improvement project. The goal is to expand the neighborhood’s existing entertainment scene and bring in business to the area. But the shooting, Alexander said, was a saddening and frustrating interruption of those efforts. Regardless, the neighborhood is not letting the mass shooting stop them from progress.

“The general tone is one of resilience,” Alexander said. “It’s a place where all kinds of folks get together both to work, to live, to worship, to play, to eat and to be entertained. No one has stopped doing that. We still are experiencing great advances in our business improvement district.” 

Alexander said business owners are stepping up to try and make the neighborhood feel safe again. Many are setting up security and surveillance systems. Last week, Mayor Randall Woofin announced a citizen advisory commission that will recommend strategies for helping reduce homicides in the city.  

“I’m hopeful that those do bring us some progress,” Alexander said. “It seems to be, on some level right now in Birmingham, that has brought the mayor to this point of establishing these different initiatives.”

For now, people in Five Points South are moving on as best they can.

“I don’t sense that people are fearful to be here at all,” Dave Dresher of Five Points South said. “I think people are still coming to church in the neighborhood, people who work here in the neighborhood are still coming into their offices. Hopefully, like the police have said, it is a random, targeted deal and is not indicative that things are getting worse and worse in this neighborhood. We pray for that anyway.”

“I think people in the neighborhood know that this is not a real indicator of who we are,” Danny Jones of Five Points South said. “This is sort of an outlier of other issues that need to be addressed. Five Points South is so much more than that and so much better than that.”