Birmingham police have identified three of the four people killed as they continue the search for suspects in a Saturday night mass shooting.
The shooting happened in the Five Points South Entertainment District, in the 2000 block of Magnolia Avenue South, about 11 p.m., police said. As of Monday morning, no arrests of suspects had been announced by authorities.
The dead include Anitra Hollman, 21, Tahj Booker, 27, and Carlos McCain, 27, and Roderick Lynn Patterson Jr., 26, USA Today reported. Other victims suffered life threatening and non-life threatening injuries, police said.
Hollman, Booker and McCain were found unresponsive by the first responding officers on the sidewalk at the shooting scene. They were pronounced dead on the scene. Patterson was pronounced dead at the University of Alabama Hospital.
A large crowd was waiting outside to enter one of the district’s businesses, when shots rang out.
Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond described the shooting as “a hit” in which a single person was targeted and multiple bystanders were caught in the crossfire. Thurmond said several shooters opened fire from a vehicle, then left the vehicle and continued shooting. Over 100 shell casings were recovered, Thurmond said.
The intended target is believed to be among the dead, the chief said.
More: Birmingham mass shooting: Alabama officials call for Glock switch ban
Police recovered about 100 spent shell casings at the scene. There is evidence that some of the guns that were used were illegally modified to fire automatically, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said. The guns can be converted through so-called “switches,” which are used on semi-automatic handguns. A semi-automatic fires one round with each trigger pull. An automatic weapon fires rounds as long as the trigger is pulled.
The devices are illegal under federal law. They can be purchased through the dark web, or manufactured on 3-D printers.
The ATF and the FBI were assisting in the investigation. Anyone with information is urged to call the anonymous Secret Witness line at 205-254-7777 or the Birmingham Police Homicide Unit at 205-254-1764.
Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Birmingham mass shooting: Police identify victims as manhunt continues
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