JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
A mass shooting in Birmingham, Ala., killed four people Saturday and left 17 others wounded. And Birmingham police still don't have any suspects. Now the FBI and a local nonprofit are offering up to $100,000 for information. Joining us to talk more about this is Stephan Bisaha of the Gulf States Newsroom. Stephan, if you can, can you just start by walking us through what happened Saturday night in Birmingham?
STEPHAN BISAHA, BYLINE: Yeah, this was late Saturday night. You had people waiting outside a hookah lounge in Birmingham. And someone - possibly multiple people together - they drove by, and they fired into the crowd. And police later found more than 100 shell casings at the scene. So this is possibly an automatic weapon or at least a gun modified to act like an automatic weapon.
SUMMERS: I want to hear more about the investigation, but first, what, if anything, do we know about the victims?
BISAHA: Well, police recently released their names. We have Anitra Holloman. We have Tahj Booker, Carlos McCain, and Robert Lynn Patterson. They were all young, in their 20s, and from the Birmingham area. Now, police said this was likely a targeted killing, though the police wouldn't say who was the target. Birmingham police chief, Scott Thurmond, spoke at a press conference this morning. And he says the targeting was likely related to the criminal record of at least one of the victims.
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SCOTT THURMOND: And unfortunately, being in that lifestyle, you know, that culture and things unfortunately ended in their demise.
BISAHA: Now, to be clear, there were a lot of innocent victims here. At the press conference, we heard about one victim who was just in line at this nightclub waiting to celebrate his birthday with some friends.
SUMMERS: Awful. I mean, there seems to be so much shock in the community because of the area where the shooting took place. Tell us about that.
BISAHA: Yeah, it happened in Five Points South. It's this popular downtown vibe kind of area. I literally live just a mile from there. And the hookah lounge, you know, it's a place for late-night drinking and dancing, but there's all kind of restaurants nearby. You got Indian, sushi. You got a high-end French restaurant and then a pancake house right nearby. And now, Birmingham, it is still a segregated city. But it feels like everyone from all corners of the city comes to Five Points, so just about anyone in Birmingham could have imagined themselves having been there.
SUMMERS: The shooting happened on Saturday, so it's been two days since the shooting. Police still don't have anyone in custody. What can you tell us about what's going on with this investigation?
BISAHA: Yeah. Well, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, he said people in the city really need to share what they know about this shooting.
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RANDALL WOODFIN: Because as a community, we cannot give safe harbor or shelter to people who want to just simply kill people.
BISAHA: Yeah, now, there have been more than 50 tips sent in by this point, but police have long complained about this, like, don't snitch culture across Birmingham. People are just unwilling to come forward with information. And police blame this for a lot of gun violence going unsolved in Birmingham. But this shooting, it looks like it was retaliatory, so there could be concern that talking could lead to another retaliation. Both police and FBI, they've been emphasizing that people can remain anonymous, the mayor even saying that witness protection is an option here. And again, there is a record reward of $100,000 being offered for information on this killing - a first for Birmingham.
SUMMERS: That's Stephan Bisaha with the Gulf States Newsroom. Thank you.
BISAHA: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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