Record number of tips assist Birmingham Police in making an arrest in Five Points South Shooting

BIRMINGHAM, Ala ( WIAT ) — Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond said tips from the community helped lead to an arrest in the mass shooting in Five Points South.

Chief Thurmond said their department received 300 tips, around 120 of them to Crime Stoppers.

“We had people call that said ‘I saw two people running by, I saw a car leave that area at a high rate of speed,'” said Executive Director of Crime Stoppers of Metro Alabama Bob Copus.

Copus said their department received anonymous calls just hours after the shooting happened the night of September 21, and from then on, those calls continued.

“We sent them straight over to Birmingham Police so they can use their analysis to determine if this is something we’re looking at or is it something we can just let go of,” said Copus.

At a press conference Wednesday, Chief Thurmond said the information received did in fact play a part in their investigation.

“There’s all little bits of information that came together from various tips. There’s just a lot of things that assisted in putting this investigation together,” said Chief Thurmond. “We applaud the community for coming forward we have never had that many tips in any case before.”

According to Copus, he believes the monetary award of $100,000 may have contributed to the calls.

But ultimately, Copus said it comes down to the thoughtfulness of the community.

“I hope it sends a strong message to these violent offenders that this is not your street, this is our street. And if you’re going to do something like this, you’re going to be held accountable,” said Copus.

So, what’s next? And will the award money be given to a tipster?

“We wait on law enforcement to tell us what tips were valuable and should they be paid on,” said Copus.

According to Copus, they haven’t heard from BPD regarding this yet.

Copus said he hopes CrimeStoppers will continue to be a trusted resource to people here in our community and he wants to continue to remind people you can remain anonymous.

If you have any information on this case or any other case call Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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