A mass shooting in Alabama early Sunday morning happened at a party in a Montgomery neighborhood where possibly more than 1,000 people had gathered.
Mayor Steven Reed and Acting Chief John Hall spoke about the shooting late Sunday afternoon, calling the shooting that injured 13 people – nine of whom were shot – heinous and senseless.
“I’m not proud to be standing here today talking about another issue of gun violence in our city,’’ Reed said. “This senseless act is something that should not happen.”
“This is something very serious and we’re concerned about those who have been injured,’’ the mayor said. “Our sympathies go out to them and their families, but we’ve got to make sure that in our city, there’s a greater appreciation for life, a greater appreciation for conflict resolution, a greater appreciation for de-escalating situations without pulling guns.”
“This cannot continue to happen. We will not stand for it,’’ Reed said. “This senseless violence just has to stop.”
Hall said police at 1:48 a.m. received a call of shots fired in the North Pass community, which is off Coliseum Boulevard. In two minutes, the acting chief said, they received updated information that someone had been injured.
The first Montgomery police officers arrived on the scene at 1:55, seven minutes after being alerted to unfolding situation.
When officers arrived, they found two victims wounded on the scene. The victims – an adult female and a juvenile male – had non-life-threatening gunshot wounds and were taken by ambulance to the hospital.
Eleven additional victims were taken via private vehicles to area hospitals. Of those, Hall said, seven had gunshot wounds for a total of nine people shot, three were struck by vehicles fleeing the chaos, and one was hit with flying glass.
The seven gunshot victims that showed up at hospital included three adult males, two adult females and two additional juvenile males.
One woman and two men were hit by vehicles, the person injured by glass was also an adult female.
None of the injuries are life-threatening.
Hall said the shooting happened at an unpermitted party, meaning it was going beyond someone’s personal property, spilling out into multiple properties and into the street. That requires a permit, he said.
Police recovered more than 350 spent shell casings on the scene. Authorities have not yet determined how many guns were fired.
“We’re working closely with federal and state partners,’’ Hall said. “They’ve been assisting us since early on in this case and will continue assisting us.”
Hall said police were aware the large gathering was taking place.
“We do everything we can when we know these things are going on,’’ Hall said.
“Last night was a busy night,’’ he said. “We did have a homicide shortly before that, a robbery shortly before that and another shooting shortly before that.”
“We have to move our officers from location to location because when we deal with violence, I can’t send a solo officer in there,’’ he said. “We have to go in numbers, so we do have to move things around.”
He said police need to community to let them know when things are happening, and where.
“While nothing may be going on when we drive through, that doesn’t mean it isn’t going to happen,’’ he said. “This has happened in the past – they say it’s going to happen at 10 p.m. and it doesn’t. It happens at 1 a.m.”
“I can’t leave someone there,’’ he said. “For the safety of the city we’ve got to move our officers so that they can continue to stop other things in the city.”
Reed said there are too many outlets for people to get assistance without resorting to gun violence.
“It impacts too many innocent lives in our community,’’ he said. “The fact that we’re here today for what occurred overnight with multiple people shot and hundreds of rounds being found at the scene is discouraging, it’s disappointing, but it’s also frustrating.”
“It infuriates all of us here who are working for a safer community,’’ the mayor said. “We will leave no stone unturned and are looking at best practices and implementing those as we speak.
Reed said the community needs to get involved, that law enforcement cannot carry the burden alone.
“Those who know what happened need to come and let us know who was involved and why they were involved,’’ he said. “You cannot expect to be in a safer community if you are part of the problem.”
“I call on those that were there last night in the North Pass community who know something, say something because next time you don’t know if it will be you or someone you love who may be a victim of gun violence,’’ Reed said.
The FBI, ATF and State Bureau of Investigation is assisting in the probe. No arrests have been announced.
ATF Resident Agent in Charge Jennifer Conway said multiple investigators and agencies are working the case.
“We have resources that we can bring to the table that we will not be specific on today that we will solve these heinous crimes,’’ Conway said. “Although you make think nothing’s going on, just because you can’t see doesn’t mean it’s not going on.”
“I promise you, if you are responsible for this, stand down because we are coming for those who did it. We may know who did it,’’ she said. “But we will make sure that our cases are as solid as can be so that when the case is finally brought to justice, that you will not get out again.”
Montgomery City Councilwoman Julie Turner Beard released a statement about the mass shooting,
“I am deeply saddened and outraged by the recent surge in senseless acts of violence that have plagued our beloved city and communities,’’ Beard said. “This wave of criminality is not just an assault on the peace and safety of our neighborhoods, but an affront to the very essence of our community values.”
“Let me be clear: these acts of violence are intolerable and unacceptable. They are perpetrated by individuals who have no regard for human life, no respect for the law, and no consideration for the suffering they inflict on innocent families and communities,’’ she said. “The residents of Montgomery deserve better.”
Reed addressed the gun problem in the city, and nationwide.
“The sheer amount of men and women who are carrying and using automatic rifles in this city is unacceptable,’’ he said. “These rifles aren’t designed for streets and neighborhoods.”
“There is responsibility at state and federal levels to assist in what we’ve been trying to do for years, which is take the guns out of the hands of people who should not have them, much less automatic rifles that can let off as many rounds in a second as we just heard in the last 24 hours,’’ he said.
“I understand why some of our citizens don’t feel safe,’’ the mayor said. “I want them to understand we’re working day and night, and in our dreams, making sure we’re utilizing the best resources and the best ideas to make this a safer city.”
