Four killed in shooting in nightlife area of city in Alabama

A mass shooting killed four people and wounded 18 others in a popular nightlife area in Birmingham, Alabama, with many of the victims caught in the crossfire, police said early Sunday. No one was immediately arrested, and police asked the public for information.

The shooting happened shortly after 11 p.m. Saturday in the city's Five Points South entertainment district, Officer Truman Fitzgerald said in an email.

Officers arriving at the scene 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, Fitzgerald said.

A preliminary investigation showed that “multiple suspects fired upon a large group of people who were outside in a public area,” Fitzgerald said.

“Detectives believe the shooting was not random and stemmed from an isolated incident where multiple victims were caught in the crossfire,” Fitzgerald said.

Injured people began showing up at hospitals, Fitzgerald said. By early Sunday, police had identified 18 other victims with injuries, some of them life-threatening.

There were no immediate arrests, and investigators had not yet determined the intended targets, Fitzgerald said. Anyone with information was asked to contact authorities, and a reward was possible, police said.

The Five Points South area contains entertainment venues, restaurants and bars and often is crowded on Saturday nights.