A U.S. Army veteran and mail carrier killed in a double homicide that left three others wounded is being remembered as smart, ambitious, and outgoing.

Chaveda Willis, 33, was affectionately known by friends and family as Woodie or Woo. She was one of two mothers killed in the early-morning hours of Labor Day when gunfire erupted outside a Birmingham club and led to a drive-by outside the UAB Hospital emergency room.

“Everybody loved her,’’ said one of her sisters, TreLena Smith. “She was an encourager, a people person.”

Willis was described as a giver, not a taker, and a woman who doted on her 11-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son.

“They were her life,’’ said her aunt, Kimblyn Reedy. “She was an excellent mom. She over the top for her kids.”

Killed in the same shooting was 24-year-old Markiezia Atkins, also a mother and a Miles College student.

A vigil for Willis will be held at 6 p.m. Monday in a north Birmingham park.

The initial shooting happened about 2 a.m. Monday following an altercation that began at Aria Restaurant and Lounge in the 900 block of Fifth Avenue North. More gunfire then erupted when three of the victims arrived at UAB Hospital in an SUV.

Investigators say at least two gunmen opened fire on the SUV outside the emergency room, but no one was struck at the hospital.

“We believe the gunfire stemmed from a targeted attack,’’ said Officer Truman Fitzgerald, “however many of the victims who were struck by gunfire appear to have been bystanders.”

Authorities said Atkins, Willis and a man whose identity has not been released, were inside a Chevrolet Tahoe that arrived at UAB’s emergency about 2:17 a.m.

When the SUV got to UAB, another vehicle pulled up and opened fire on the Tahoe. Witnesses said they heard multiple shots fired, describing the sounds as “iron pipes hitting.”

The gunfire hit a UAB police vehicle and a hospital window, but no other people were injured in that shooting.

Birmingham and UAB police officers shut down the area surrounding the emergency room. The hospital was placed on lockdown.

Willis was pronounced dead at 2:30 a.m. Atkins was pronounced dead at 2:55 a.m.

The wounded man was admitted in critical condition and remains hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.

Two other women showed up at the hospital with gunshot injuries, but they are expected to be OK.

Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond released this statement following the deadly shooting:

“Two females lost their lives to yet again another senseless act of violence in our city,’’ Thurmond said. “Early indications are those who were shot were most likely innocent victims.”

“As a result, we have two women whose lives were cut entirely too short. Two families were destroyed, and three other victims will have to live with the scars of this senseless violence for the rest of their lives,’’ he said.

Willis grew up in Birmingham and graduated from George W. Carver High School. She attended Shelton State Community College and took courses through Stillman College before leaving to join the U.S. Army.

She served in the military for two years before she sustained a knee injury that forced her to leave the service.

Willis had three degrees from Fortis Institute and was recently notified that she had been accepted into nursing school at Bevill State.

“She was so intelligent,’’ Reedy said. “She should have been a doctor.”

Willis joined the U.S. Postal Service about eight years ago and worked as a mail carrier across the Birmingham area, from Vestavia Hills to Ensley to Center Point.

“She didn’t meet a stranger,’’ said her aunt, Martrece Bell.

She had been an only child for 10 years before her three younger sisters – two of which are twins – came along and she was thrilled to have siblings.

“She took care of us,’’ Smith said. “I asked her for everything, and she gave it to me.”

Willis loved Tommy Hilfiger – all fashion really – and she loved karaoke.

“She had a big, bright smile,’’ Reedy said.

Family said they received word of the shooting when someone called them and told them the SUV had been shot up. They knew Willis had been with the people in that SUV and rushed to UAB Hospital where they kept vigil outside until they received the heartbreaking news that she died.

“It was just a senseless act, uncalled for,’’ Reedy said.

Police, they said, have not given them any information about what they think happened. But the family is hoping for an arrest.

“We want closure,’’ Reedy said.

Asked what they would say to the shooter or shooters, Bell said this: “They took a jewel from our family.”

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