A shooting in south Birmingham left two people dead, and at least one other injured.
Multiple shots rang out about 11 a.m. Friday in the 4400 block of Fifth Avenue South. That location is the Oak Tree Apartments.
One man was pronounced dead in the parking lot. He was on the ground next to a work van, still wearing a black mask.
Two others were rushed to UAB Hospital where a second man was pronounced dead.
A third person sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
Both men who were killed were wearing black nylon face masks, similar to the mask often worn by rapper Pooh Sheisty.
“We believe all of this stemmed from a robbery gone wrong,’’ said Officer Truman Fitzgerald. “Two of the victims both have ski masks on, the Pooh Sheisty mask.”
“We believe the third non-life-threatening victim may have shot them in attempted robbery,’’ he said.
He said detectives don’t believe Friday’s robbery attempt was a crime of opportunity – the person being robbed was likely targeted.
At least 13 shots were fired.
Fitzgerald said Friday’s victims are second and third homicide victims this week who were wearing the “Pooh Sheisty” face masks when they were killed. A 19-year-old killed in a Saturday night shootout outside East Lake Park was also wearing the same mask, he said.
“We can’t stress to you enough how important people, places and behaviors factor into the violence that is going on in our city,’’ he said.
“These are two men in 90-degree weather wearing ski masks,” Fitzgerald said. “You tell us what you think they were up to. That’s what we’re dealing with.”
The surviving victim, he said, were not with the men that were being killed.
Fitzgerald said the narrative so far this summer has been “broad daylight crimes.”
“This just goes to show you the level of carelessness the criminal element has,’’ he said. “Avondale Park is just walking distance.”
Fitzgerald said if the victims were in fact committing a crime, it’s important to note that those things don’t always go as planned.
“This comes from a place of love- young men, we live in Alabama where everybody has a gun,’’ he said. “Before you think you can get the drop on somebody, just remember that other person you think may be a victim, it doesn’t always turn out that way.”