BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBMA) – One person was killed and eight others were injured in a mass shooting outside Legion Field after the Magic City Classic Saturday night, Birmingham police said. “Multiple gunshots were heard in the 400 block of Graymont Avenue West shortly after 7:50 p.m.,” Officer De’Rell Freeman, assistant public information officer for the Birmingham Police Department, said at a news conference. Police Chief Michael Pickett said one person was in critical condition and seven others were stable. Police have not identified the person who died. Pickett said most spectators and families had left the stadium property after the game, but the shooting occurred nearby, where vendors were set up along Graymont Avenue. He said he was “very grateful there weren’t more people hurt.” One person detained; police seek video Freeman said one person had been detained and taken to police headquarters for processing. Officers recovered several firearms from the scene and turned them into the department’s property room. Police have not announced whether the person arrested has been charged or what led up to the shooting. BPD is asking anyone with video from the scene to share it with investigators. “It may seem like nothing. It may seem insignificant. Please send it,” Pickett said. The department said people who submit images will remain anonymous. Click here to send the video to Birmingham Police. Anyone with information is asked to contact the BPD homicide unit at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777. Pickett said BPD is working with the FBI and partner agencies. Police did not answer questions at the news conference. The officials respond. Mayor Randall Woodfin said the community is “hurt, shocked and rightly angry.” He said: “There is no argument, no issue, no misunderstanding that can justify this level of senseless violence during a night of celebration.” “We refuse to allow fear to shake the spirit of this community,” Woodfin said. He said the city would continue to work for justice and that the community would “stick together as we get through this tragic night.” U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell said, “Our community deserves to celebrate our traditions in peace and safety, without fear of gun violence.” He said his team is in contact with local authorities and thanked the first responders. Pickett said the shooting would not define the Classic. “The Magic City Classic is a staple event here in our community,” he said. “This won’t take anything away from him.” Birmingham police suspended all tailgating practices for the Magic City Classic and told people to leave Legion Field property as soon as possible. Police also urged people not to go to the stadium. Pickett praised the officers who rushed to the scene of the shooting to help the victims. “Our Birmingham police officers are true heroes,” he said. Past shootings near Legion Field ABC’s 33/40 archive shows that shootings also occurred near Legion Field during previous Classic weekends. In 2014, a person was shot in a stadium parking lot near Graymont Avenue and Center Street after a game. The person’s injuries were not considered life-threatening. On Oct. 25, 2024, the day before that year’s game, police responded to two separate shootings near Legion Field about an hour apart, ABC 33/40 reported. The first was in the 200 block of West Eighth Avenue. The second was at a residence in the 800 block of Seventh Street West, where one person was injured with non-life-threatening injuries. The reports did not establish a connection between those shootings and the Classic.
