![\"AP](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/8085\/live\/c9bb6670-7993-11ef-b02d-c5f3b724a1ea.jpg.webp\")
AP<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nPolice are hunting for a group of attackers after a deadly shooting in the US city of Birmingham, Alabama, on Saturday night.<\/p>\n Four people were killed – of whom three have been formally identified – and 17 others were injured.<\/p>\n Investigators have described it as a “hit” that involved multiple gunmen who appeared to target a specific individual.<\/p>\n Here is everything we know about the incident so far.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The attack unfolded just after 23:00 local time (05:00 BST) around Magnolia Avenue South, in the Five Points South nightlife district. Local media said it happened as patrons queued to enter a hookah and cigar lounge.<\/p>\n The shooting was characterised by Scott Thurmond, the Birmingham police chief, as “targeted” rather than a random incident.<\/p>\n A number of attackers are alleged to have got out of a vehicle and opened fire on a crowd in a public area before fleeing the scene.<\/p>\n They are alleged to have used “machine gun conversion devices”. Investigators say they have collected about 100 shell casings from the scene, among other evidence.<\/p>\n Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin blamed “Glock switches” – devices that can be attached to handguns to make them fire automatically – and described these as the “number one public safety issue” in the area.<\/p>\n The hookah lounge, Hush, said it was “heartbroken” that its customers were caught up in the incident – which it stressed had nothing to do with the venue itself.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n A woman and two men who were among the four people killed have been named by Birmingham police, who said they were local to the area:<\/p>\n The trio were pronounced dead at the scene by emergency officials. A fourth person, who died after being taken to hospital, has not been formally identified. <\/p>\n The person targeted in the “hit” was thought to be among those killed, Mr Thurmond said, without specifying who that individual was.<\/p>\n The police chief said investigators had received information to suggest that “someone was willing to pay money to have that person killed”.<\/p>\n Police say 17 others were injured, revising down an earlier figure of 18. Their wounds varied in severity, some of them being life-threatening. Many were taken to hospital.<\/p>\n A 24-year-old man, Gabriel Eslami, told local news outlet Al.com he had been shot in the buttocks as he queued for the Hush lounge, and hospitalised himself.<\/p>\n He described seeing “blood everywhere” and the sight of “people’s bodies laid out on the pavement”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n No arrests have been made. <\/p>\n A search continues for the culprits, and little is known about them. <\/p>\n Police in believe, however, that the incident may stem from a murder-for-hire plot. <\/p>\n A reward has been offered for information on the suspects.<\/p>\n Other agencies have been helping with the investigation: the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the FBI.<\/p>\n More updates are expected on Monday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The bloodshed comes amid a spate of gun violence in Birmingham.<\/p>\n A further shooting on Sunday evening in the Alabama city resulted in another person being killed and at least one other injured. Police told local media they were not ruling out a connection with the previous night’s incident.<\/p>\n There have been more than 400 mass shootings across the US so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more people are injured or killed.<\/p>\n The incident in Birmingham is the second mass shooting to place in the city in a two-month period, and the third quadruple homicide of 2024. <\/p>\n In July, another nightclub shooting left four people dead and 10 injured, while in February for men were gunned down outside a public library. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nWhat happened?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Who was killed and injured?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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What is known about the attackers?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
What is the bigger picture?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n