Man shot dead in crowded supermarket in southwest Birmingham may have been killed over ‘Facebook row’, police say

A man shot and killed Tuesday afternoon in a crowded southwest Birmingham convenience store may have become a homicide victim over something as trivial as a social media dispute, police said.

Officers from the West Precinct responded to the Big Boy Convenience Store at 2714 Pearson Ave. SW just before 5 p.m. on a report of a person shot, Officer Truman Fitzgerald said.

Officers found a man lying unconscious in front of the store with gunshot wounds.

Birmingham Fire and Rescue personnel were transporting the victim to UAB Hospital when he died en route, Fitzgerald said.

“We believe that two adult males were involved in an armed confrontation,” Fitzgerald said, citing the preliminary homicide investigation. “One of the males had a gun, the other had a gun, and one of those males fired shots.”

Police were searching for the shooter and other men involved in the clash.

Witnesses were asked to call Crimestoppers at 205-254-7777; tipsters can remain anonymous.

“It was a very tragic situation,” Fitzgerald said. “There were other customers inside the business when the shooting occurred.”

No one else was shot.

The witnesses were helpful to police, Fitzgerald said.

Detectives learned the shooting may have occurred following a minor argument.

“It could be because of a dispute on Facebook,” Fitzgerald said.

One of the men was at the store when he was confronted by the other man, who may have been at the convenience store earlier before returning.

“This was a very personal incident where someone may have spotted another person and was prepared to confront them at a crowded gas station during rush hour,” Fitzgerald said.

He said the incident “kind of sums up what Chief (Scott) Thurmond and Mayor (Randall) Woodfin have been saying: A lot of these incidents are personal and knowledge-based.”

The incident, Fitzgerald said, showed that violent crime plaguing the city is a systemic problem.

“We need the community’s help to help our city change its culture,” he said. “Someone who is willing to confront someone else over something as minor as a Facebook dispute, that’s a culture issue, not a police issue.”

The homicide is the third in the city since last weekend, when four people were killed and 17 others were injured in a shooting outside Hush Lounge in Five Points South.