The murder charge against a Bessemer man in the fatal shooting of a 21-year-old in Ensley has been dismissed.

Gary Steele, 33, was charged with murder in the April 18 death of Anthony Lambert Jr.

A Jefferson County judge dismissed the murder charge against Steele, saying witnesses testified Lambert had fired his gun first and that his behavior in the moments before his death was “reckless and threatening.”

Multiple shots rang out about 4:20 p.m. that Thursday in the 5700 block of Court I in Ensley.

Shot Spotter alerted authorities to shots fired and then police received a call reporting a person was unresponsive near the road.

Lambert was found unresponsive in the front yard of a home in the 900 block of 58th Street, and Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service pronounced him dead on the scene.

Police said as many as 10 shots were fired.

While police were still on the scene, a relative of Steele showed up and said Steele wanted to turn himself in, which he did a short time later.

A warrant against him was obtained the following day.

An Aniah’s Law bond hearing, which also served as a preliminary hearing, was held last week.

Jefferson County Bessemer Cutoff District Judge Thomas Thrash wrote in his order dismissing the murder charge that there witnesses who all reported that Lambert fired his gun first.

Lambert fired his gun into the air from a vehicle, Thrash wrote. More than one witness, the judge noted, told Birmingham homicide detectives that Lambert was “known to fire a weapon in the air when he is upset.”

Moments after firing the gun into the air, the judge’s order state, Lambert pointed his gun at Steele. He exited his vehicle and was then killed.

‘All witnesses confirm the victim as being the person firing a weapon first,’’ Thrash wrote. “There was testimony that the victim pointed his weapon at everyone at the location.”