A double shooting in Birmingham leaves one man dead, another injured; 1 in custody

One man was killed and a second man was injured in a double shooting in southwest Birmingham on Wednesday evening, police said.

Just after 6 p.m. Wednesday, West Precinct officers received a call of a person shot in the 1700 block of Pearson Avenue SW, Officer Truman Fitzgerald said.

Officers arrived on scene to find an adult male suffering from a non-life-threatening gunshot wound, Fitzgerald said. Police then found a second man lying on the sidewalk with a life-threatening injury.

Community members were already rendering aid to one of the victims when “our officers stepped in and took over lifesaving duties,” Fitzgerald said.

Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service personnel arrived on scene and transported both victims to UAB Hospital, where the man died from his injuries with life-threatening injuries.

The preliminary investigation showed that all those involved in the shooting knew each other, Fitzgerald said.

“We believe this all stemmed from an argument between the deceased victim and a third adult male,” he said. “In this case he was not shot. …We assume that all parties involved knew each other, so this is an incident in which the suspect and victim(s) knew each other.”

An individual police identified as a person of interest in the case was taken into custody at the scene and will be interviewed at Birmingham City Center police station.

That person’s involvement in the incident was still being investigated by detectives as of Wednesday evening, Fitzgerald said.

“What we need from the public now is that if you have additional information, we encourage you to do so call CrimeStoppers so you can get paid for your tips,” the officer said, adding that tipsters can remain anonymous.