Gunmen kill two, injure 12 in a shootout in a crowd in Alabama capital
city's downtown
[October 06, 2025]
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Rival gunmen shot at each other in
a crowded downtown nightlife district in Alabama's capital city Saturday
night, killing two people and injuring 12 others in a chaotic street
scene that left authorities trying to find out who started it, police
said.
The dead included a 43-year-old woman, identified by police as Shalanda
WIlliams, and a 17-year-old identified as Jeremiah Morris. Five of the
wounded were hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, including a
juvenile, Montgomery police said.
No one had been arrested as of Sunday afternoon as police appealed to
the public for information and sorted through a complicated crime scene
that involved multiple people firing weapons in a crowd just after the
Tuskegee University-Morehouse College rivalry football game ended blocks
away.
“We’re gonna do whatever we can not only to arrest those responsible,
we’re going to do whatever to arrest those connected in any way, who
knew what may have happened, who knew what could take place," Montgomery
Mayor Steven Reed told a Sunday news conference. "We’re not going just
to stop with those folks that were pulling the trigger last night.”
The shooters “had no regard for human life," he said.
Police were reviewing surveillance video, interviewing witnesses and
potential suspects and trying to piece together a motive for why the
shooting started.
Police were called around 11:30 p.m. to what Montgomery Police Chief
James Graboys described as a “mass shooting" that broke out near the
Hank Williams Museum, the Rosa Parks Museum and the Alabama Statehouse,
within earshot of officers on routine patrol in downtown Montgomery.
The shooting began when someone targeted one of the 14 victims,
prompting multiple people to pull their own weapons and start firing
back, Graboys said.
[to top of second column]
|
This image taken from video provided by WSFA shows the scene after a
shooting earlier Saturday in downtown Montgomery, Ala., Sunday, Oct.
5, 2025. (WSFA via AP)
"This was two parties involved that were basically shooting at each
other in the middle of a crowd," Graboys said.
The shooters, he said, “did not care about the people around them
when they did it.”
Seven of the 14 victims were under 20, and the youngest was 16,
Graboys said. At least two of the victims were armed, Graboys said.
Multiple weapons and shell cases were recovered from the scene,
Graboys said.
Few other details were available.
It was a particularly busy weekend in Montgomery, with Alabama State
University’s homecoming football game that day at Hornet Stadium,
the Alabama National Fair ongoing at Garrett Coliseum and the
Tuskegee University-Morehouse College game having just ended at
nearby Cramton Bowl.
Reed said there were police patrols within 50 feet (15 meters) when
the shooting broke out. One officer was so quick to arrive on the
scene that he transported a victim to the hospital before an
ambulance arrived, Graboys said.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved |
