Two people were killed and 12 others wounded in a shootout on a crowded street in Montgomery, Ala., Saturday night, police said.
The fatally shot victims were identified only as an adult male and an adult female, cops said. Of the 12 wounded victims, three suffered life-threatening injuries, including one juvenile, according to authorities.
Cops said two rival groups began firing at each other in the middle of a popular nightlife district in Alabama’s capital city. No suspects have been named or arrested.
“The people who did what they did, who are responsible for opening fire on each other like that, did not care about the people around them when they did it,” Police Chief James Graboys told local NBC affiliate WSFA.
Mayor Steven Reed said police officers were stationed within 50 feet of the gunfire when it started, but the shooters “had no regard for human life.”
The gunfire erupted around 11:30 p.m. near the intersection of Bibb and Commerce Sts. in the city with a population of 200,000, the Montgomery Advertiser reported, on a weekend with multiple college football games slated, along with the Alabama National Fair and Alabama State University’s homecoming celebrations.
The initial shooting details resembled a Brooklyn nightclub shooting in mid-August, when two rival gangs opened fire inside a Crown Heights club, leaving three people dead and nine wounded.
On Sunday morning, Montgomery cops were still investigating how many people opened fire, how many weapons were used and what sparked the gunfire.
“This is not acceptable. This is not normal,” Graboys said. “We will not rest until we put the people involved in jail.”
With News Wire Services
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