At least two people were killed, including a teenager, and a dozen others wounded in a shooting in downtown Montgomery on Saturday night while the city was hosting the Alabama National Fair.
Officers responded to reports of a shooting at about 11:30 p.m., according to Montgomery Police Chief Jim Graboys. Authorities believe one of the shooting victims was targeted, while others nearby who were armed reacted by pulling their own weapons.
“As you can imagine, that could be a very chaotic situation, and every weapon has to be accounted for, and every piece of evidence has to be processed,” Graboys said.
A motive is still under investigation, the chief said.
Police recovered weapons during the investigation, but Graboys did not provide details on the evidence. He described the firearms earlier in the day as having a “high capacity.”
No suspects were in custody as of Sunday afternoon, when city officials spoke at a press conference on Sunday afternoon. Graboys urged the public to submit any video evidence to the police department.
“One thing I want people to be aware of, if anybody has any information, you have a responsibility for this community, and to help people in this community to give that information to us,” Graboys said.
The chief identified the two people killed as a 17-year-old Jeremiah Morris and a 43-year-old Shalanda Williams.
Of the 12 people injured, Graboys said that five had life-threatening injuries. The police chief noted that seven of those who were shot were under the age of 20, the youngest just 16 years old.
Detectives are interviewing witnesses and will do everything possible to “gather every bit of evidence and chase down whoever is involved,” Graboys told reporters.
A video posted to Facebook and verified by NBC News shows people gathered around carnival attractions, including a Ferris wheel, in the downtown Montgomery area. A large group of people start running a little more than a minute into the video.
Seconds after the running begins, sounds of what appear to be gunshots ring loudly in the recording.
Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed said early Sunday that thousands of people came to the city over the weekend to Alabama National Fair. The fair began Friday and is scheduled to continue through the week.
The majority of the victims appeared to be local residents, Reed said.
Reed emphasized Sunday afternoon that the shooting was unrelated to the fair and other celebratory events in the city, including Alabama State University’s homecoming weekend.
“Lot of great fun that has been had shared along these last several days, but unfortunately, it only took one or two bad people with bad intentions to change not only their fortunes, but the fortunes of many, many other innocent people,” Reed said.
The mayor offered an additional $20,000 in reward money to the initial $5,000 offered through the Crime Stoppers tip line. The city council president spoke up after Reed’s offer to add an additional $25,000, bringing the reward to $50,000 for information leading to a suspect’s arrest.
Reed said that the reward is not the point, but if “that’s what it takes,” the city will do whatever it has to do to hold the suspects accountable for Saturday night’s violence.
“We’re going to do whatever we can, not only to arrest those responsible,” Reed said. “We’re going to do whatever we can to arrest those connected in any way — who knew what may have happened or who knew what could take place.”
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