A man opened fire inside a Birmingham apartment Tuesday night, killing a woman and injuring two young girls.

The shooting happened at 10:20 p.m. at a small complex in the 100 block of Ninth Avenue West.

North Precinct officers arrived on the scene and found the woman, as well as the two girls, ages seven and 13, all had sustained gunshot wounds.

Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service pronounced the woman dead on the scene. The two injured girls were taken to the hospital.

Officer Truman Fitzgerald said the girls’ wounds are not believed to be life threatening.

He said he did not know the relationship of the girls to the woman. They had confirmed one of the young victims was not the woman’s daughter but were unsure about the other.

“A male entered the apartment and began firing shots at all three victims,’’ Fitzgerald said. “At this time, we believe the motive in this case is domestic in nature.”

No arrests have been made. Fitzgerald said investigators believe the suspect and the woman had a past relationship.

“It just makes you ask the question, ‘What have we come to in our society that a grown man feels the need to walk into an apartment and begin to shoot a woman and two small children,’’ Fitzgerald said.

“Our message right now is our police department needs you,’’ he said. “We understand that with everything going on nationally this may be a time to be divided, however the Birmingham Police Department needs you more than ever.”

“We are losing our community members it seems like on a weekly basis,’’ Fitzgerald said. “For us to get this truly curtailed, we need all the help we can get.”

The deadly shooting took place just across the street from where a woman was killed in a shooting just a couple of weeks ago.

Tonight’s slaying is the second homicide of the day in Birmingham, the fourth in four days and the 11th so far this year.

Earlier Tuesday, a 57-year-old man was found slain inside his north Birmingham home.

“To the streets of Birmingham, you’re going to find out who did this just as quickly as we find out,’’ Fitzgerald said.

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