Birmingham mayor speaks as 3 shooting victims identified
(NewsNation) — Birmingham, Alabama, Mayor Randall Woodfin said, while four people were killed in a shooting incident early Sunday, the 17 who were injured “woke up to a new normal that, unfortunately, includes physical and emotional trauma.”
“The majority of these people who were shot were innocent and not the target,” Woodfin told “NewsNation Now.”
Late Sunday, Birmingham police identified three of the people killed in the shooting: Anitra Holloman, 21, of Bessemer, Alabama; Tahj Booker, 27, of Birmingham; and Carlos McCain, 27, also of Birmingham, Alabama. All there were pronounced dead at the scene of the shootings.
The fourth victim, a man who died at a nearby hospital, has not been identified.
He said the priority of police is to find the people who opened fire on the crowd in what authorities believe was a targeted “hit” on one of the four who was killed.
“We are laser-like focused on finding these shooters,” he said.
Woodfin also noted that the weapons used appeared to have been retrofitted with a “Glock switch,” a small device that converts the semi-automatic pistols to fully automatic.
“It’s the reason why so many people were actually shot,” he said. “Glock switches and automatic weapons don’t belong on our domestic streets.”
“We need common-sense reform and allow the police to be empowered to take these types of guns off the streets before they’re used. Not after the fact, but before,” he added.