Four killed, 18 injured in mass shooting at Alabama outdoor entertainment venue

Multiple gunman fired into a crowded outdoor entertainment venue Saturday night in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four and wounding, at least 18 others, police said.

It was the city’s second mass shooting this year, and its mayor said the gunman were believed to have used guns modified with a switch known as a “Glock switch” that turned them into fully automatic machine guns. 

“Glock switches are the number one public safety issue in our city and state,’' Mayor Randall Woodfin wrote Sunday morning on Facebook. “Converting a semi-automatic weapon into a fully automatic weapon that discharges all bullets within seconds doesn’t belong on our domestic streets.”

Police said two men and a woman were pronounced dead at the scene and a fourth victim, a male, died in a hospital shortly after the incident occurred at 11 PM Saturday at the Five Points South entertainment area.

Police said they don’t believe the shooting was random, and that multiple innocent bystanders were simply caught in the crossfire in an area near a cigar lounge. 

“It’s a beautiful night on a Saturday. This is one of the most popular entertainment districts in Birmingham so you can always expect a crowd,” Officer Truman Fitzgerald told a news conference.

“This group of shooters fired on these victims while they were out in the open,’' he said. “This was on a sidewalk or a city street