4 dead and 18 injured after gunfire erupts at popular nightlife area in Birmingham, Alabama, police say

By Paradise Afshar, Lauren Mascarenhas and Raja Razek, CNN

(CNN) — Four people were killed and 18 others were injured when multiple shooters opened fire in the center of one of the most popular entertainment areas in Birmingham, Alabama, on Saturday evening.

Just after 11 p.m., “multiple shooters fired multiple shots on a group of people” in the Five Points South area. Some of the victims were caught in the crossfire, the Birmingham Police Department said.

When officers arrived, they found two men and a woman unresponsive with gunshot wounds, and all three were later pronounced dead on the scene, Birmingham Police Officer Truman Fitzgerald said.

A fourth victim, an adult male, was pronounced dead at the University of Alabama Hospital, according to hospital staff.

Investigators believe the shooting was not random but stemmed from an isolated incident. Detectives are working to determine exactly who was targeted in the gunfire.

With no suspects in custody, the Birmingham Police Department is partnering with the FBI and other agencies to investigate, urging anyone with information to come forward.

The gunfire extends the list of at least 403 mass shootings in the United States so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The archive, like CNN, defines a mass shooting as one in which at least four people are shot, excluding the shooter.

Birmingham has seen multiple mass shootings this year.

A shooting at a nightclub in the city in July left four people dead and 10 others injured, according to CNN affiliate WVRC, and four men were shot and killed outside a public library in February, CNN affiliate WVTM reported.

Five Points South is a busy area known for its restaurants, night clubs, pubs and live music venues near the University of Alabama at Birmingham campus and downtown.

The victims in Alabama were all out in the open on the sidewalk or on the streets, Fitzgerald said. Detectives are working to determine whether the shooters walked up to the victims or drove by in a vehicle, he added.

Additional gunshot victims were identified in the area, and other victims arrived at local hospitals, Fitzgerald said. The University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital received 11 of the victims, including one of the people who died, Hannah Echols, a hospital spokesperson told CNN. The conditions of the victims have not been released.

At least four victims have life-threatening injuries, Fitzgerald said.

It’s unclear exactly how many people opened fire or what motivated the violence. Fitzgerald said police are investigating whether there were “multiple shootings.”

Birmingham police have asked that businesses in the area provide any surveillance footage they might have.

“Rest assured, we are going to do everything we possibly can to make sure that we uncover, identify and hunt down who was ever responsible for preying on our people,” he said.

Fitzgerald said mass shootings “have more to do with culture than they do criminality,” adding that “we’re seeing far too many arguments being settled by bullets.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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CNN’s Aaron Eggleston contributed to this report.