Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, center, with City Councilors Latonya Tate, left, and Crystal Smitherman discuss the shooting last weekend that left four dead and 17 others injured. (Sym Posey, For The Birmingham Times)
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By Sym Posey | The Birmingham Times
As a city continues to mourn the lives of four people killed and 17 others injured in a Southside shooting, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said on Tuesday the city is resilient and will find a way to heal from the tragedy.
However, in a 30-minute press conference he also acknowledged the toll not only for the victims’ families and survivors but also law enforcement and medical providers who also were impacted.
“This is a resilient community and so are the residents and the community members … so we will get over this,” he said. “The best way is to get through it together. One of the things we can do in addition to praying with each other and for each other is being there for each other.”
Authorities in Birmingham said “multiple suspects” opened fire in Birmingham’s busy entertainment district over the weekend, killing four people, injuring 17 and leaving city residents shaken. Officials are offering up to $100,000 in reward money for information.
The city will allocate tax dollars to help alleviate some of these issues including with money from Washington, said the mayor, adding that he spoke with Alabama Senator Katie Britt who obtained $4.2 million for Birmingham’s Real Time Crime Center.
He said the senator pledged to provide every possible federal resource for local law enforcement to combat violent crime in Birmingham and they discussed ways to partner to strengthen public safety in the city.
Asked about being a consoler for many who are grieving the mayor said, “we have to be there for the entire community, which includes our first responders who bear the emotional weight of that … The hospital staff and what they saw and the lives they saved.”
While at the hospitals in the aftermath of the shooting the mayor said he saw scores of people and pandemonium that caused fear “and then the scream. That mother screamed. I know that mother’s scream because my mother had that scream,” said Woodfin who lost an older brother to gun violence in 2011.
The mayor said it’s easy to get on social media, point the finger and tell elected officials they’re not doing their job.
“And we can handle all that,” he said. “We’ll absorb and take all of that. But we all have to project strength through unity. And we believe that we will heal our community, but it has to be together.”
