Four people killed, 17 injured after late-night mass-shooting in US state of Alabama

Police in the southeastern state of Alabama are on the hunt for multiple assailants after yet another terrifying mass shooting in the US.

Multiple shooters have fired at a group of people and left four dead and more than 20 injured in a late-night mass shooting in the southeastern US state of Alabama.

Gunfire erupted in the Five Points South district of Birmingham, Alabama about 11pm US time on Saturday.

“We believe that multiple shooters fired multiple shots on a group of people,” police officer Truman Fitzgerald told local media.

Officers found two adult males and one adult female unresponsive on the sidewalk with gunshot wounds, Mr Fitzgerald said.

All three were pronounced dead at the scene. A fourth victim died at a local hospital, he added.

Police respond to the shooting on Saturday night. Picture: X

The shooting lasted just moments, yet police discovered over 100 empty shell casings at the scene. Authorities believe at least one weapon was equipped with a “Glock switch,” enabling the handgun to fire in fully automatic mode, according to WVTM-TV.

Machine guns and other fully automatic weapons are illegal in the US — except for a few exceptions that require onerous federal licenses.

“There’s a certain element in this community who are too comfortable riding around with semi automatic weapons, automatic weapons, convergent switches, and everything else, whose only hell-bent intent is to harm people,” Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said.

Police cordon off the area of the shooting in Birmingham, Alabama. Picture: WBRC

The intended target of the gunmen was standing outside the Hush Cigar and Hookah Lounge, a basement club known for its long lines of people waiting to enter.

Five Points South district is a vibrant area full of family restaurants, as well as a night-life hub, with busy pubs and live music venues dotted throughout the area and attracting large crowds on Saturday evenings.

Some 20 people were injured in the mass shooting, with police switching their focus to finding the assailants.

Several agencies are involved in the investigation, including the FBI.

The incident is the latest in a series of tragic mass shootings in the US this year.

There have been at least 403 mass shootings – defined as a shooting involving at least four victims, dead or wounded – across the US in 2024, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

At least 12,416 people have been killed in firearms violence this year in the US.