Gunfight with at least 40 rounds fired in Birmingham’s Kingston community leaves 1 dead

A large gunfight in a south Birmingham public housing community left one man dead.

At least 40 shots erupted about 9:40 p.m. Wednesday on Roscoe Avenue in the Rev. Dr. Morrell Todd Homes in the Kingston area.

South Precinct officers were in the area and heard the barrage of gunfire. At the same time, said Officer Truman Fitzgerald, Shot Spotter alerted authorities to shots fired in the 4600 block of Roscoe Avenue.

“It sounded like a massive shootout to our officers because of how close they were to the shooting,’’ Fitzgerald said.

Neighborhood President Eldrige Knighton agreed.

“I heard the shots. I heard multiple gunshots,’’ Knighton said. “It was different caliber guns going off. Once I heard the sirens, I made my way up here.”

Police arrived to find the victim near a set of steps at the end of an apartment building. Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service pronounced him dead on the scene.

“Officers reported to me there was a crowd when they arrived and the crowd scattered,’’ Fitzgerald said.

He said it was not immediately known if the victim was an innocent bystander or targeted.

No one is in custody.

“As with many cases in our housing communities, thanks to the Housing Authority, we have a great surveillance system,’’ Fitzgerald said. “We are going to look into those resources and our Real Time Crime Center is going to look into that.”

In 2023, a horrific and deadly shootout the Kingston public housing community was captured by the same cameras and led to the swift arrest of a suspect.

Residents reported taking cover when the shots erupted Wednesday night.

“It’s extremely dangerous when you have a densely populated neighborhood like this,’’ Fitzgerald said.

“Kingston is a very soft spot in our hearts because this is where Christian (Savage) was shot,’’ he said. “I always think about Christian when I think about Kingston, what a beautiful kid he is and what he has to endure for the rest of life because of individuals like tonight. “

“That’s why it’s important for our detectives to get these people responsible off the streets,’’ Fitzgerald said. “It’s important for the community to come forward and provide us with information.”

Wednesday night’s homicide is the fifth slaying in the city since late Friday night/early Saturday morning.

Fortunately, Fitzgerald said, police have arrested suspects in five of the city’s last six killings.

“The message we want out there is we are going to take these killers off our streets for harming our community members,’’ he said.

Knighton said the victim, whose name has not been released, is believed to be a resident of the community. He was well thought of, Knighton said.

Up until Wednesday night, he said, the neighborhood has been relatively quiet as of late.

“It the first homicide here this year, and hopefully the last,’’ the neighborhood president said. “A lot of times you have stuff that goes on outside our community brought into our community.”

The victim is the city’s 13th homicide this year. In all of Jefferson County, there have been 18 homicides including the 13 in Birmingham.

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