Hush Lounge releases statement in response to mass shooting outside the Birmingham, Alabama business

ARREST THE GUNMAN. IN THIS CASE. AND WE WANT TO CONTINUE OUR TEAM COVERAGE WITH WVTM. 13 S GLADYS BAUTISTA LIVE AND LOCAL IN BIRMINGHAM TONIGHT. GLADYS YOU SPOKE WITH SOMEONE WHO WAS CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE LAST NIGHT? YEAH. GUY AND SHERRY, IT WAS HOMECOMING AND ALUMNI WEEKEND FOR SO MANY HIGH SCHOOLS THROUGHOUT OUR AREA. AND THAT’S EXACTLY WHY GABRIEL ISLAMI WAS HERE IN THE FIVE POINTS SOUTH AREA WITH HIS FRIENDS. HE SAYS. IT WAS PRETTY MUCH LIKE A HIGH SCHOOL REUNION, BUT IT WAS A TRIP HERE TO THIS LOUNGE THAT ALMOST COST HIM HIS LIFE. PEOPLE JUST LAID OUT ON ON THE SIDEWALK AND WITH THE SMOKE OF THE GUNS WAVERING OVER THE SIDEWALK. IT LITERALLY LOOKED LIKE LIKE A WAR SCENE, A WAR SCENE IN FRONT OF A POPULAR BIRMINGHAM NIGHTCLUB ON MAGNOLIA AVENUE IN WHAT WOULD BE A DEADLY SATURDAY NIGHT IN FIVE POINTS SOUTH. POLICE SAY MULTIPLE SHOOTERS OPENED FIRE INTO A CROWD STANDING OUTSIDE AROUND 11, HITTING 17 PEOPLE IN TOTAL. GABRIEL ISLAM, SPEAKING TO US FROM HIS BED AS HE NOW RECOVERS AFTER A BULLET TORE THROUGH HIS BUTTOCKS WHILE HE WAS RUNNING AWAY. INITIALLY, I THOUGHT THEY WERE LIKE SHOOTING UP THE FRONT OF THE LINE BECAUSE THAT’S WHERE THEY WERE IN THE FRONT. THEY WERE SHOOTING DOWN THE LINE BECAUSE I WAS IN THE VERY BACK. BUT OTHERS DIDN’T GET THE CHANCE TO RUN FOR COVER. 21 YEAR OLD ANITRA HOLLOMAN, TAJ BOOKER AND CARLOS MCCAIN, BOTH 27, WERE PRONOUNCED DEAD AT THE SCENE. A FOURTH MAN DIED AT THE HOSPITAL. FOUR OTHERS ARE IN CRITICAL CONDITION. ISLAM DESCRIBES THE TERROR IN THE MOMENT WHEN THE SHOTS RANG OUT. I RAN AND WITHIN TWO SECONDS OF ME RUNNING, I COULDN’T FEEL MY LEG AND I JUST FALL. AND IT DIDN’T EVEN DAWN ON ME THAT I HAD GOTTEN SHOT. MY FIRST THOUGHT WAS, I CAN’T GET SHOT AGAIN. SO I PICKED MYSELF UP. I KIND OF TURNED BACK AND LOOKED BACK, AND I ALMOST WISH I HADN’T. THERE’S JUST BODIES ON THE ON ON THE SIDEWALK, SHOES EVERYWHERE, ACCESSORIES, WALLETS, PHONES. AND THEN JUST A GUNSHOT. SMOKE. AND IN THE AFTERMATH, A REALIZATION OF WHAT HAD JUST HAPPENED. PEOPLE RUNNING IN EVERY DIRECTION STILL. IT WAS JUST PURE CHAOS. AND I’M SITTING THERE IN THAT CHAIR TRYING TO USE MY SHIRT AS A TOURNIQUET, TRYING TO STOP THE BLEEDING FOR A LITTLE BIT. ISLAM SAYS HIS FRIEND RUSHED HIM TO THE HOSPITAL, WHERE HE LEARNED FROM DOCTORS. THE BULLET WENT INTO HIS BUTTOCKS AND OUT OF HIS THIGH, JUST MILLIMETERS FROM A MAJOR ARTERY. IT’S SCARY KNOWING HOW CLOSE I WAS TO DYING. NOW RECOVERING AT HOME, HE LOOKS BACK AT LAST NIGHT AND THE CARNAGE THANKFUL, BUT STILL FILLED WITH SADNESS. I WONDER TO MYSELF, LIKE WHY ME? AND WHY NOT SOMEBODY ELSE WHO PASSED AWAY? AND TONIGHT FLOWERS AND A SINGLE CANDLE HERE OUTSIDE OF HUSH LOUNGE WHERE THIS SHOOTING TOOK PLACE. POLICE BELIEVE AT THIS MOMENT THAT ALL OF THIS STEMMED FROM A MURDER FOR HIRE. AND THAT RIGHT NOW, INVESTIGATORS BELIEVE THE TARGET OF THAT IS AMONG THOSE THAT ARE DEAD. STILL NO ONE IS IN CUSTODY. POLICE ARE ASKING ANYONE WITH INFORMATION TO CONTACT THEM OR CRIME STOPPERS. WE’RE LIVE IN FIVE POINTS SOUTH FOR YOU TONIGHT. I’M GLADYS BAUTIST