By james art 
Four people were killed and at least 21 others were injured when “multiple shots” erupted in a popular Birmingham, Alabama entertainment district on Saturday night, as police said they would be “hunting down” those responsible.
Birmingham police said they responded to the scene where “several people were shot with possibly multiple victims shortly after 11:00 p.m. near 20th Street and Magnolia Avenue in Five Points South, a popular part of the city’s nightlife.
The Five Points South area has numerous entertainment venues, restaurants and bars and often draws large crowds on Saturday nights.
Initial reports suggested the victims were waiting to enter Hush, a hookah and cigar lounge, according to AL.com.
First responders found two elderly men and an elderly woman “unresponsive on the sidewalk suffering from gunshot wounds” and were pronounced dead at the scene, Birmingham Officer Truman Fitzgerald told reporters.
The fourth victim, who was transported to UAB Hospital, was pronounced dead.
“We have also begun to locate multiple additional gunshot victims in and around the area,” he said.
Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service transported eight victims to local hospitals, while others were brought in by private vehicles.
Police did not confirm the exact number of casualties as the situation is still volatile.
“In these types of situations, when you lock in a number, that number usually changes, so we can safely say we have dozens of gunshot victims from this area.”
All of the victims were “out in the open” either on a sidewalk or in the street.
“This group of shooters shot at their victims while they were out in the open,” he said.
“We believe multiple shooters fired multiple times at a group of people,” Fitzgerald said.
No arrests have been made as police appealed to the public to come forward with information about the shooting.
“Be assured that we will do everything we can to make sure we uncover, identify and prosecute whoever is responsible for this persecution of our people this morning,” Fitzgerald added.
Detectives were investigating whether the shooters were on foot or in a car and whether they used switches, a small device that can turn a semi-automatic handgun into a fully automatic weapon.
Saturday night’s shooting is the second mass shooting to rock Birmingham this year.
On July 13, four people were killed in a shooting at a senior birthday party and nine were injured, according to AL.com.
“These mass shootings have more to do with culture than crime,” Fitzgerald said. “Mayor Randall Woodfin said it best this weekend ‘we see too many disputes being settled with bullets,’ and I think that speaks to exactly what our mayor said recently.”
With pole cables