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A large party in Montgomery turned into the scene of a mass shooting, as multiple people exchanged more than 360 shots, leaving nine shot and 13 injured.
The shooting occurred in the early morning hours Sunday, following a house party with more than 1,000 attendees. Montgomery Police said the party was illegal, since it spilled outside of the private property boundaries and into public areas without a permit.
Nine people were shot and three others suffered injuries after being hit by fleeing cars.
What touched off the violence is unclear, but social media posts indicated a simple argument among party-goers escalated into a fight and then gunfire. Videos of the incident show a chaotic scene, as hundreds of people ran for cover, hiding under parked vehicles and fleeing the scene erratically in cars. The exchange of gunfire in the videos is jaw-dropping, with apparently automatic weapons (or weapons modified to fire automatically) firing back and forth.
At a late-afternoon press conference, Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed and acting police chief John Hall spoke frankly about the shooting and ongoing issue of gun violence in the city.
“I’m not proud to be standing here today talking about another issue of gun violence in our city,” Reed said. “We’ve got to make sure that in our city there’s a greater appreciation for life, there’s a greater appreciation for conflict resolution, there’s a greater appreciation for de-escalating situations without pulling a gun. These events cannot continue to happen. We will not stand for it.”
Hall said the city is working with both the ATF and FBI to track down the shooters and the weapons used in the shooting.
“(The FBI and ATF) have been assisting us since early on in this case,” Hall said.
Hall said police responded to a report of shots fired at 1:55 a.m. Sunday, just seven minutes after the initial call reporting gunfire at the party location off of Coliseum Boulevard.
The shooting is the latest incident in Montgomery, which has drawn interest from lawmakers across the state looking to score political points off of the gun violence plaguing the city. In the meantime, Hall and Reed, and other city leaders, are working on actual solutions to stop the violence and save lives.
Both Hall and Reed encouraged anyone with information on the shooting to come forward, and Reed said it would take the entire community to curtail the ongoing violence.
“What occurred overnight, with multiple people shot and hundreds of rounds being found, it’s discouraging, it’s disappointing, but it’s also frustrating,” Reed said. “We need the community to come forward if they know what happened here. You can’t expect to live in a safer community if you’re part of the problem.”
