1 killed, 1 injured in west Birmingham shootings

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ( WIAT ) — A man is dead, and another person was seriously injured in shootings that occurred in west Birmingham early Saturday morning.

Birmingham Police Department Sgt. LaQuitta Wade said that just after 3 a.m., officers responded to four ShotSpotter notifications recording a total of 42 gunshots. When police arrived in the 800 block of Third Avenue West, they found a victim inside a vehicle unresponsive suffering from an apparent gunshot wound.

Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service personnel pronounced the victim dead. Birmingham police late identified the deceased victim as Johndarius Decareious Ward, 26, of Birmingham.

At the scene, officers learned a second victim arrived at Princeton Baptist Medical Center via private vehicle. The second victim sustained a life-threatening gunshot wound.

Wade said the police’s preliminary investigation shows the Ward was attempting to leave the parking lot of the convivence store in that block when an unknown suspect started firing shots into that victim’s vehicle and killed him. Police believe the suspect was waiting for Ward to appear.

The preliminary investigation also suggests that another unknown person started shooting in the parking lot of the location. The second victim was caught in the crossfire of that shooting.

There is no one in custody in connection to the case. Anyone with information on the shootings is urged to call the BPD at 205-254-1764 or submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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