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Birmingham, Ala.– Mayor Randall Woodfin called on the state Legislature to pass a glock switch ban after gunmen launched a barrage of bullets during a targeted hit in a crowd in downtown Birmingham Saturday night.
Four people have been killed and 17 injured, with their status ranging from minor injuries to critical condition, in a mass shooting that has drawn attention to the state’s lax laws on glock switches, which transform semiautomatic weapons into fully automatic.
During a Monday press conference, the FBI announced a reward for up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction for the suspects responsible for the mass shooting.
“You can remain anonymous,” Mayor Woodfin said Monday. “As a community, we can not give safe harbor or shelter to people who just simply want to kill people.”
Federal law bans the glock switch enhancements, but there’s no state law prohibiting them. Police say roughly 100 shell casings were recovered from the scene.
“I don’t give a damn about partisan. I don’t care about Democratic politics, Republican politics,” Mayor Woodfin, a Democrat, said in a solemn statement Sunday.
“What is my concern, what is my top priority, along with the Birmingham Police Department, is public safety. But you’ve got to give us the tools to solve these issues,” he said.
Suspects on the loose
Authorities are still searching for the suspects in Saturday night’s mass shooting outside the Hush hookah lounge in the bustling Five Points South entertainment district, the Associated Press reported Monday morning.
Police believe the attack was a targeted hit on one of the victims. The shooters showed absolutely no concern for the bystanders in the popular area near the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
As police arrived on scene, they immediately discovered three people deceased on the sidewalk. They identified Anitra Holloman, 21, Tahj Booker, 27, and Carlos McCain, 27. A fourth male victim died at the hospital.
“We believe that there was a ‘hit,’ if you will, on that particular person,” Police Chief Scott Thurman said, though the target of the hit hasn’t been identified.
It marks the 31st mass killing in the U.S. in 2024 and the 23rd mass shooting, according to a database maintained by the Associated Press, USA Today and Northeastern University.
Mayor seeks glock switch ban
Several mass shootings occurred in Birmingham this year alone, AL.com reported. Mayor Woodfin is urging the Republican-controlled state Legislature to pass strict laws to deter similar crimes in the future.
The state has no permit laws for owning a gun. The mayor says the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) needs more funding.
In a Facebook post Sunday, he outlined a proposal to ban the glock switch enhancement devices. Mayor Woodfin wants a 10-year prison sentence if someone is caught with one. He wants 25-year prison sentences when a victim is shot but survives and life without parole if the victim dies.
“Converting a semi-automatic weapon into a fully automatic weapon that discharges all bullets within seconds doesn’t belong on our domestic streets,” Mayor Woodfin said.
Watch Monday’s press conference below:
