Suspects sought in deadly Birmingham shooting outside Third Avenue West Shell station
Police are asking for the public’s help identifying two suspects in a shooting outside two west Birmingham businesses that left one man dead and another injured.
Johndarius Decareious Ward, 26, was killed Oct. 5 outside the Shell station and Boston Fish Supreme which city officials previously labeled as a “launching pad for criminal activity.”
Birmingham police on Wednesday released surveillance photo showing the two suspects walking, and also contained images of their vehicles, said Officer Truman Fitzgerald.
The shots rang out about 3 a.m. that Saturday in the 800 block of Third Avenue West.
Police received four different Shot Spotter notifications. In all, the gunfire detection system registered about 42 shots.
When officers arrived, they found Ward unresponsive inside a vehicle. Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service pronounced him dead on the scene.
Roughly two dozen shell casings surrounded his sedan which was stopped in front Boston Fish Supreme. Another cluster of shell casings was right in front the Shell, feet away from the store’s front door.
Authorities said it appeared Ward was trying to leave the parking lot when the shooter came from around a building and opened fire on the vehicle.
The shooter or shooters, who police said ambushed the victim, fled.
While officers were on the scene, they learned an additional victim showed up at Princeton Baptist Medical Center via private vehicle. He was transferred to UAB Hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Ward had been parked outside Boston Fish Supreme earlier, police said. His killing appears to be targeted but a motive has not yet been disclosed.
Once the shooting started, Sgt. LaQuitta Wade previously said, somebody outside of Shell also began firing, and that is when investigators believe the bystander was caught in the crossfire.
Anyone with information is asked to call homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.