At least four people were killed and up to 10 others were injured in a shooting at a Birmingham, Alabama nightclub late Saturday night, where a birthday party was being held.
Birmingham Officer Truman Fitzgerald said in a video statement that investigators believe at least one person fired shots from the street into the nightclub on 27th Street North, where responding officers found multiple gunshot victims around 11 p.m. local time. There was some type of altercation at the club, police said, but detectives are trying to determine if that is connected to the shooting.
Fitzgerald added that two women inside the nightclub and a man who was found on a sidewalk near the venue were pronounced dead at the scene, and another man died at a hospital. Ten other people who were shot were being treated at UAB Hospital, police said, with some were taken there by the Birmingham Fire Department and others arriving in private vehicles. Birmingham police on Sunday identified those killed as: Lerandus Anderson, 24; Stevie McGhee, 39; Markeisha Gettings, 42; and Angela Weatherspoon, 56. Police confirmed that McGhee was found dead outside the business, while Gettings and Weatherspoon were killed inside, and Anderson was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Police did not identify any suspects in the shooting and no arrests have been announced as of Sunday morning; it remains unclear what the motive was to invoke the gunfire. Fitzgerald said: “Detectives are working to determine what led to shots being fired and the victims being shot. Our federal partners have deployed to the scene and are assisting Birmingham police officers in this investigation.”
As of press time there were no arrests; police asked the public for any information. Federal law enforcement agencies are also assisting Birmingham police in the investigation.
Editorial credit: Jimmy Rooney / Shutterstock.com
