An early-morning shooting inside a southwest Birmingham home left one man dead.

The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office identified the victim as Fredrick Carnell Sykes. He was 44.

Just after 2 a.m. Wednesday, West Precinct officers were dispatched to the 3600 block of Hemlock Avenue S.W. on a report of a person shot.

Officers arrived at the home and went inside. It was there the found the victim unresponsive.

Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service pronounced Sykes dead on the scene at 2:34 a.m.

Officer Truman Fitzgerald said the unknown suspect made forced entry and then fired on the victim. He said it wasn’t immediately clear whether the two knew each other.

Police would not say whether any other people were in the house at the time.

Investigators have not identified a suspect or a motive.

Sykes is Birmingham’s 22nd homicide so far this year and the fifth in just over 48 hours.

Four other men were killed between 12:40 a.m. Monday and the time of this latest homicide.

“A lot of these have happened in areas outside of the view of our patrol officers and that’s what makes them so difficult,’’ Fitzgerald said.

Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond on Tuesday addressed the spate of violence.

“This is unacceptable, and Birmingham deserves better,’’ Thurmond said in a press statement.

“This is very disturbing not only for our officers and detectives, but also for our city and our community members,’’ the chief said. “The Birmingham Police Department works diligently to protect all of our community members and to prevent crime from taking place whenever possible.”

The bloodshed began in Monday’s predawn hours when 30-year-old Devarta Dedre Thomas, who pleaded guilty in 2016 to the shooting death of his mother in Hoover, was found dead in the 300 block of 74th Street North.

Police have not announced any arrests in Thomas’s homicide.

Later Monday, 39-year-old James Lee Washington was shot in the 300 block of First Avenue North. Investigators said the shooting happened inside an apartment he shared with suspect, who is now in the hospital under police guard.

Kenneth Earl Harris Jr., 42, was shot inside a Wylam home Monday night, and was pronounced dead several hours later at UAB Hospital. Police said someone opened fired into a Buffalo Street home where Harris lived, with a possible motive of revenge or retaliation against someone.

The, midday Tuesday, a man was found fatally shot on Jesse Owens Avenue in the Roosevelt City area. That victim has not yet been identified.

“It is extremely difficult for police to prevent or intervene before a crime occurs behind the closed doors of a residence,’’ he said.

“As a result of these recent homicides,’’ the chief said, “four families have been devastated by the unexpected loss of their loved one in senseless acts of violence.”

Anyone with information on any of the slayings is asked to call homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.