What we know about the victims of the Birmingham, Alabama mass shooting

THANKS FOR JOINING US AT FIVE. I’M GUY RAWLINGS AND I’M SHERI FALK. WE HAVE A CREW STANDING BY WITH THE LATEST UPDATES AS POLICE CONTINUE TO SEARCH FOR KILLERS IN SATURDAY’S DEADLY SHOOTING IN TOTAL, 21 PEOPLE WERE SHOT, FOUR KILLED, 17 OTHERS HURT. TODAY WE LEARNED 12 OF THE VICTIMS WHO WERE HURT ARE NOW OUT OF THE HOSPITAL, WHILE FIVE OTHERS ARE STILL BEING TREATED. LOCAL AND FEDERAL OFFICIALS SAY THEY’VE RECEIVED MORE THAN 50 TIPS IN THE LAST 24 HOURS, AND THEY’RE NOW OFFERING A SIX FIGURE REWARD. THROUGHOUT THE SHOW, YOU’LL SEE A QR CODE ON THE BOTTOM OF YOUR SCREEN. YOU CAN SCAN IT TO GIVE POLICE ANY INFORMATION THAT HELPS THEM ARREST THE GUNMAN. IN THIS CASE. WE’LL CONTINUE OUR COVERAGE WITH WVTM 13 LISA CRANE LIVE AND LOCAL IN BIRMINGHAM, WHERE THE COMMUNITY IS IN MOURNING RIGHT NOW. LISA. YEAH. YOU KNOW, THERE IS AN AREA RIGHT BEHIND ME IN FRONT OF THE HUSKE HOOKAH AND CIGAR LOUNGE HERE, WHERE FOLKS HAVE BEEN COMING TO PAY THEIR RESPECTS. THEY’RE DROPPING OFF MEMENTOS FOR THE VICTIMS. IT’S KIND OF DIFFICULT TO SEE FROM THIS PERSPECTIVE. SO TAKE A LOOK AT SOME VIDEO. WE SHOT JUST A FEW MOMENTS AGO OF THE FLOWERS, THE CARDS, THE BALLOONS, ALL THE STUFFED ANIMALS THAT HAVE BEEN DROPPED OFF HERE. MANY OF THE PEOPLE COMING TO PAY THEIR RESPECTS DID NOT KNOW ANY OF THE VICTIMS, BUT THEY SAY THEY ARE TOUCHED BY THE GRAVITY OF 21 PEOPLE BEING SHOT HERE. NOW YOU ARE TAKING A LOOK AT THE VICTIMS KILLED IN THAT SHOOTING. THEY ARE TAJ BOOKER, CARLOS MCCANE, ANITRA HOLLOMAN AND RODERICK PATTERSON JR. NOW WE SPOKE WITH TAJ BOOKER’S AUNT TODAY. HER ONLY SON, TAJ, HIS COUSIN DARIUS EVERSON WAS WITH TAJ IN THAT LINE SATURDAY NIGHT. HE WAS ALSO SHOT. HE IS IN THE ICU RIGHT NOW, BUT HIS MOM SAYS SHE BELIEVES HE WILL SURVIVE A VERY DIFFICULT TIME FOR THAT FAMILY. WVTM 13 JON PAEPCKE IS FOLLOWING THE INVESTIGATION INTO THIS CASE. HE’S FROM AT THE SOUTH PRECINCT RIGHT NOW, WHERE OFFICERS WERE ACTUALLY DISPATCHED FROM. AND JOHN, IS THE PUBLIC HELPING SOLVE THIS CASE. WELL, LISA, EVEN BEFORE THIS MORNING’S PRESS CONFERENCE WITH THE MAYOR, THE POLICE CHIEF AND THE FBI, THE CRIME STOPPERS BRANCH LOCALLY HAD ALREADY RECEIVED AT LEAST 50 TIPS FROM THE COMMUNITY AND THAT WAS BEFORE A HUGE HISTORIC ANNOUNCEMENT THAT ACTUALLY PROVIDED AN INCREASED INCENTIVE FOR MORE PEOPLE TO STEP UP. NOW, THE INVESTIGATORS IN THIS CASE ARE RECRUITING THE PUBLIC’S HEALTH HELP TO ACTUALLY BRING THE SHOOTER OR SHOOTERS TO JUSTICE. 21 TOTAL VICTIMS, FOUR DIED, FOUR MORE SUFFERED LIFE THREATENING GUNSHOT WOUNDS LIKE WE MENTIONED. TODAY, POLICE CONFIRMED THAT A DOZEN OF THOSE VICTIMS HAVE BEEN RELEASED FROM THE HOSPITAL. AS OF THIS MORNING, NO SUSPECTS WERE IN CUSTODY. BUT CRIME STOPPERS HAS ANNOUNCED A $50,000 REWARD. YOU HEARD THAT RIGHT. IT’S IT’S LARGEST EVER, WHICH GOES TO ANYONE WITH INFORMATION WHICH LEADS TO AN ARREST. ON TOP OF THAT, THE FBI IS WILLING TO MATCH THAT AMOUNT FOR A TIP, WHICH PUTS THE SHOOTER IN PRISON. BIRMINGHAM’S TOP FBI AGENT HOPES THOSE WITH THE KEY TO THE CASE WILL PICK UP THE PHONE. THE PURPOSE OF THAT IS TO ENSURE THAT WE ROOT OUT THE MOST VIOLENT AND HEINOUS INDIVIDUALS THAT SEEK TO BRING VIOLENCE TO OUR COMMUNITIES AND NEIGHBORHOODS. NOW, IF YOU DO WANT TO HELP OUT, ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS SCAN THE QR CODE AT THE BOTTOM OF YOUR SCREEN. OR YOU CAN CALL THE FBI AT ONE 800. CALL FBI OR EMAIL TIPS AT FBI.GOV. NOW, SATURDAY’S MASS SHOOTING JUST ADDS TO A TRAUMATIC YEAR FOR THE CITY OF BIRMINGHAM. RIGHT NOW, THE CITY IS ON TRACK TO RECORD 156 MURDERS IN 2024. THAT WOULD MAKE IT ITS DEADLIEST EVER. LISA. ALL RIGHT, JOHN, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. AGAIN, THE TRAGEDY HAPPENED JUST OUTSIDE THE HUSH LOUNGE. YOU SEE HERE BEHIND ME IN FIVE POINTS SOUTH. THE OWNER OF THAT LOUNGE POSTED A STATEMENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA TODAY. IT READS IN PART, IT IS HEARTBREAKING THAT A MOMENT MEANT FOR GATHERING AND COMMUNITY WAS SHATTERED BY SUCH A TRAGEDY. AS WE ALL PROCESS THIS, WE MUST CONTINUE TO SUPPORT EACH OTHER, HOLD SPACE FOR THOSE IN PAIN AND WORK TOWARDS FOSTERING PEACE AND SAFETY IN OUR COMMUNITIES. AND ONE OF THE VICTIMS HURT IN SATURDAY’S SHOOTING IS GABRIELLE ISLAM. HE IS NOW HOME RECOVERING AFTER A BULLET TORE THROUGH HIS UPPER THIGH WHILE HE WAS RUNNING AWAY. ISLAM TOLD WVTM 13 JUST HOW QUICKLY HIS NIGHT OF FUN TURNED INTO A NIGHT OF TERROR. IT WAS A HIGH SCHOOL REUNION. THERE IS ABOUT, YOU KNOW, FOUR OF THEIR HIGH SCHOOLS OUT THERE. WE ALL HAD YOU KNOW, PICNICS PRIOR. WE ALL AGREED TO GO OUT THAT NIGHT AND WE ALL AGREED ON HUSH. SO WHEN WE GOT THERE, EVERYONE WAS LIKE CATCHING UP, YOU KNOW, LAUGHING, HANGING OUT, TALKING. YOU CAN HEAR THE MUSIC FROM INSIDE PLAYING. IT WAS IT WAS A POSITIVE VIBE.