A running gun battle between two suspects and Birmingham police on Interstate 20/59 left a man dead and his female friend wounded.
Birmingham police officers tried to conduct a traffic stop at 11:29 p.m. Saturday on Avenue I at 21st Street in Ensley. The driver refused to stop, and a pursuit ensued. Birmingham police spokesman Officer Rod Mauldin said it wasn’t immediately clear if the male or female was driving.
The chase traveled along I-20/59 southbound, with one of the suspects firing at police and officers returning fire. A radio call of an officer needing all possible assistance was broadcast citywide, and officers from all four precincts, as well as Hueytown police, responded to the scene.
The driver exited the interstate on 19th Street in Hueytown, traveling along Hueytown Road. The chase then turned right onto Allison-Bonnett Memorial Parkway, where some kind of crash occurred.
Mauldin said shots were exchanged again, and both suspects struck. The male was pronounced dead on the scene by Hueytown Fire and Rescue Service. The female was taken to UAB Hospital. The extent of her injuries wasn’t immediately known.
Family members of the male said the female - a longtime family friend - called them during the chase. His brother, sister and mother rushed to the scene.
Mauldin said an officer was also taken to the hospital with a knee injury.
The State Bureau of Investigation is taking over the scene, which is routine for all officer involved shootings.
The Saturday night shooting marks the third time in a week Birmingham police have been involved in shooting incidents.
On Sunday, June 9, a suspect in an armed robbery was shot by West Precinct officers. The holdup happened just before 8 p.m. at the Family Dollar on Tuscaloosa Avenue. Birmingham Police Chief Patrick Smith said officers investigating the robbery were able to get a description of the suspect.
A short time later, they found a man matching the suspect’s description at 13th Street and McMillan Avenue. The chief said a struggle erupted between the man and an officer, and the officer shot the suspect twice.
The suspect was taken to UAB Hospital. Smith said there was evidence at the shooting scene linking the wounded man to the Family Dollar robbery.
On Monday night, police exchanged gunfire with a suspect who was able to elude them, sparking an all-night manhunt in eastern Jefferson County. That incident began just before 10 p.m. on Georgia Road when officers spotted someone driving at a high rate of speed.
The officers tried to pull over the motorist, but he did not comply and the chase was on. It was during the portion of that pursuit that police said the suspect fired more than a dozen shots at the officers. No one was injured and the suspect was captured short before 9 a.m. the following day.