Man killed in Birmingham’s 2nd homicide in hours: ‘criminal element has taken almost 100 lives in our city’
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Man killed in Birmingham’s 2nd homicide in hours: ‘criminal element has taken almost 100 lives in our city’

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A man was shot to death in a Birmingham neighborhood Tuesday, the second fatal shooting in the city in just a matter of hours.

West precinct officers were dispatched before 9 p.m. to a person shot call in the 1900 block of 13th Way S.W., which is just off Mayfield Avenue.

Officers arrived and found an adult male lying on his back near a curb in between two vehicles. He was unresponsive and was pronounced dead on the scene.

Officer Truman Fitzgerald said detectives are in the early stages of the investigation have little information about what led up to the fatal shooting.

“We have a lot of people on the scene, but officers and detectives are trying to determine if there’s any information they can give us, because details limited,’’ he said. “No one has spoken yet about what led to the shooting.”

It wasn’t immediately clear if the victim lived in the neighborhood, but he was known to hang out there. Numerous family members and friends flocked to the crime.

“We know people know something,’’ he said. “It’s just a matter of getting those details to our detectives.”

A man was shot to death Sept. 19, 2023, in the 1900 block of 13th Way S.W. (Carol Robinson)

The killing is the third in the city since Sunday.

“These homicides show the reality that our community members and our officers face, and that is we have a criminal element that has taken almost 100 lives away in our city,’’ he said.

Fitzgerald mentioned the ongoing controversy over last week’s arrest and tasing of a Jefferson County high school band director.

“A lot of people around the nation are trying to tear us apart, make it the police vs. the community,’’ he said. “The BPD is not the community’s enemy and, if anything, we need them more than we’ve ever needed them.”

“There’s no way we combat (crime and homicides) if we’re at odds with one another,’’ Fitzgerald said. “We need to come closer together and not pay any mind to national rhetoric being spread that we’re out to get the community.”

Tonight’s victim is the 94th in the city this year.

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