Authorities have released the name of a man who died early Wednesday after officers found him asking for help at a west Birmingham store.

Birmingham police identified the victim as Richard Mark Carter. He was 56.

Police initially said Carter did from a stab wound, but an autopsy by the Jefferson County Coroner’s Office determined he had actually been shot.

Officers were at the Food Mart at 2258 Bessemer Road about 1:30 a.m. on a separate call when they saw a man – now identified as Carter – asking for help, said Officer Truman Fitzgerald.

Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service was called to the scene and rushed him to UAB Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Investigators initially unsure where the assault had taken place. However, the city’s gunfire detection system – Shot Spotter – led officers to determine the shooting possibly happened at Western Trace Apartments at 2129 31st Street Ensley.

No arrests have been made.

Carter is the city’s 39th homicide in 2023. Of those, one was an officer-involved shooting by an outside agency and three others have been ruled justifiable and therefore aren’t deemed criminal.

In all of Jefferson County, there have been 53 homicides including the 39 in Birmingham.

Anyone with information is asked to call homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.