Authorities have released the names of three of four people killed in a barrage of automatic gunfire in a mass shooting in a popular Birmingham entertainment district.
Police identified the victims as Anitra Holloman, 21, Tahj Booker, 27, and Carlos McCain, 27.
The fourth victim has not been formally identified, said Officer Truman Fitzgerald.
Seventeen other people were reported injured after a hail of bullets were fired into a crowd outside of the Hush lounge in Five Points South.
It was just after 11 p.m. Saturday when Birmingham’s 911 dispatchers received multiple calls of shots fired.
While police were en route, officers learned multiple people were shot and the scene was quickly deemed a mass casualty incident.
Hollomon, Booker and McCaine were found unresponsive on the sidewalk. They were pronounced dead on the scene within moments.
Officers from the city’s other precincts were brought in to help control the chaos, and at least 50 Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service personnel – 15 units – also responded.
Police quickly cordoned off a blocks-wide perimeter as hundreds stood among the chaos, many crying and trying to find their loved ones and friends.
Witnesses said many of the victims were standing in line outside Hush when the bullets were unleashed.
Victims were treated at UAB Hospital, Princeton Baptist Medical Center, Brookwood Medical Center and St. Vincent’s.
The victim whose identity has not been released died at the hospital.
Fitzgerald said the surviving 17 victims – both male and female – sustained injuries ranging from non-life-threatening to critical.
Police said the shooters are believed to have used machine gun conversion devices. More than 100 shell casings were collected at the scene.
Chief Scott Thurmond said it appears one of the victims was targeted – a murder-for-hire – and the rest of the victims were collateral damage.
No arrests have been announced as of Sunday evening.
In total, Birmingham has reported 122 homicides and three large mass casualty shooting events so far in 2024.
Anyone with information is asked to call detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.