Birmingham mass shooting: 4 dead, 17 injured in entertainment district crossfire

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Birmingham Police in Alabama are investigating a mass shooting that left many people caught in crossfire, ultimately killing 4 people and injuring 17 others. 

The shooting took place late Saturday night in the city’s popular entertainment district in the 2000 block of Magnolia Avenue South, Birmingham Police Department Officer Truman Fitzgerald said in an email early Sunday.

Police Chief Scott Thurmond said at a news conference that authorities believe the intended target was among the dead and that the shooting may have been “a hit” conducted in exchange for payment.

Investigators believe the other victims were caught in the crossfire and that there were multiple shooters. More than 100 shell casings were found at the scene.

RELATED: Flying wrench kills Alabama woman driving to work with son: ‘She was the backbone’

Thurmond said multiple suspects pulled up in a vehicle, got out, fired shots, got back in the vehicle and fled.

Police said officers found two men and a woman on a sidewalk with gunshot wounds and they were pronounced dead there.

An additional male gunshot victim was pronounced dead at a hospital, according to police.

By early Sunday, after victims began showing up at hospitals, police had identified 17 people with injuries, some of them life-threatening, Officer Truman Fitzgerald said in an email.

Authorities were asking for the public’s help for tips as they searched for the shooters.