Gunfire outside Birmingham club leaves 1 dead

Gunfire outside Birmingham club leaves 1 dead

An early-morning shooting outside a Birmingham nightclub left one person dead.

Off-duty Birmingham officers working security at Playhouse II got on the police radio at 2:40 a.m. Saturday to report a person had been shot in an alley in the 200 block of Fourth Street North.

North Precinct officers arrived and found what is believed to be an adult male unresponsive in the alley across the street from the club, said Officer Truman Fitzgerald. The victim was pronounced dead on the scene by Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service.

Fitzgerald said investigators believe the victim was at the club when an altercation took place. The shots that killed him were fired in the alley, where crime scene investigators found shell casings.

Club security officers detained a person of interest who was undergoing questioning.

Fitzgerald said two BPD officers were working at the club, as well as private security hired by Playhouse II.

There were still patrons inside in the club when the shooting happened outside. Family members of the victim were on the scene and visibly distraught.

Detectives were interviewing witnesses, but police believe there could be others not yet located.

“We know there were a lot of people out here,’’ Fitzgerald said, “and we just want people to come forward if they saw anything.’’

The victim’s name has not yet been released.

He is the city’s 118th homicide of the year. Of those, seven have been ruled justifiable and therefore aren’t deemed criminal.

In all of Jefferson County, there have been 159 homicides including the 118 in Birmingham.

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