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COMING UP BRITTANY AND GUY JASON. THANKS BIRMINGHAM CITY LEADERS ARE TAKING ACTION FOLLOWING A SHOOTOUT AT A GAS STATION EARLY ON SUNDAY MORNING. THERE WERE SEVEN VICTIMS AND ONE OF THEM DIED. POLICE BELIEVE THE MAN WHO WAS KILLED BY WAS KILLED BY A BYSTANDER. BUT THIS IS NOTHING NEW IN THAT AREA. WVTM 13 S LISA CRANE IS LIVE AND LOCAL FOR US AND ALL OVER THIS STORY. LISA, WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE AREA WHERE THE SHOOTING HAPPENED? WELL, THIS IS AN AREA CITY LEADERS HAVE REFERRED TO AS A LAUNCHPAD FOR CRIMINAL ACTIVITY. WE’RE AT THE INTERSECTION HERE OF THIRD AVENUE WEST AND PRINCETON PARKWAY IN THE BUSH HILLS NEIGHBORHOOD. AND THE SHELL GAS STATION THAT YOU CAN SEE HOPEFULLY BEHIND ME HERE HAS HAD BEEN THE SCENE OF MANY, MANY VIOLENT CRIMES OVER THE YEARS, MOST RECENTLY WAS EARLY SUNDAY MORNING, A BARRAGE OF GUNFIRE ORIGINATED HERE THAT LEFT ONE PERSON DEAD. BUT JUST THIS YEAR, POLICE HAVE INVESTIGATED THEFTS, SHOOTINGS, ASSAULTS, A KIDNAPING AND MURDERS HERE, NOT TO MENTION MANY INCIDENTS OF EXHIBITION DRIVING IN THE INTERSECTION. A FEW OF THE RESIDENTS WHO LIVE NEAR HERE SAY THE GAS STATION IS THE PROBLEM AND SHOULD BE SHUT DOWN, BUT ONE COMMUNITY ACTIVIST DISAGREES. HE SAYS WHEN POLICE MAKE THEIR PRESENCE KNOWN HERE, THERE IS NO CRIME AND A LACK OF THAT PRESENCE IS THE PROBLEM. WHEN I COME, I SEE THERE’S A GUARD OUT HERE. THEY HAVE JUST A SECURITY OUT HERE. I WANT BUSINESSES TO BE FRUITFUL, MULTIPLY AND SERVICE THE COMMUNITY. AND THAT’S WHAT THEY’RE SUPPOSED TO DO TO TELL BUSINESSES WE’RE GOING TO SUE THEM, AND THE BUSINESSES ARE DOING WHAT THEY’RE SUPPOSED TO DO. THEN WE GOT TO DO SOMETHING ELSE. NOW, THIS LATEST, LATEST INCIDENT SEEMS TO BE THE TIPPING POINT FOR MANY. IT WAS DOZENS AND DOZENS OF SHOTS FIRED HERE DURING THAT. AND THAT WAS AGAIN, THE TIPPING POINT FOR MANY. SO LET’S RUN THROUGH WHAT POLICE ARE TELLING US ABOUT SUNDAY’S SHOOTING. DOZENS OF PEOPLE WERE AT THE GAS STATION. MORE THAN 150 ROUNDS FIRED AFTER THE FIRST SHOOTING. OTHERS PULLED OUT THEIR FIREARMS AND STARTED SHOOTING RANDOMLY AS WELL. NOW SIX PEOPLE WERE INJURED, AS WELL AS DAVID WESTBROOK, WHO WAS KILLED. WESTBROOK WAS FOUND IN HIS CAR AFTER IT CRASHED. HE IS BELIEVED TO BE A BYSTANDER IN THIS INCIDENT. NO SUSPECTS ARE IN ARE IN CUSTODY AT THIS POINT NOW. BIRMINGHAM MAYOR RANDALL WOODFIN SPOKE WITH CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS THIS MORNING ABOUT THE VIOLENCE AND SOLUTIONS THAT MIGHT PROTECT RESIDENTS. THE MAYOR CALLED THE SHOOTING UNACCEPTABLE AND PUT A FOCUS ON GUNS AND REGULATION. BUT HE SAID IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT GUNS, IT’S ALSO ABOUT THE TYPE OF WEAPONS ON THE STREETS, LIKE MILITARY STYLE GUNS. STILL, WOODFIN SAID, WHEN IT COMES TO CONTROLLING GUNS, THE CITY’S HANDS ARE TIED BECAUSE NOT MUCH CAN BE DONE AT THE LOCAL LEVEL BECAUSE WE’RE NOT IN A POSITION TO REGULATE GUNS. THE CONVERSATION I’VE HAD WITH YOU ALL, AND THE CONVERSATION I’VE BEEN HAVING WITH TWO OF THE 99 NEIGHBORHOOD RESIDENCES, IS IS THERE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR A PILOT PROGRAM TO REGULATE SPACE AND WHAT WE FOUND IN OUR CONVERSATIONS, GOING DOOR TO DOOR, TALKING TO RESIDENTS IS THAT RESIDENTS ARE OPEN TO THAT, THAT IF WE CAN’T REGULATE GUNS, IS THERE A WAY TO REGULATE SPACE WHERE PEOPLE LIVE? NOW, MAGDALA LOUISSAINT JOINS ME NOW HERE, LIVE IN BUSH HILLS. THE MAYOR SAYS THEY CONTINUE TO TALK TO RESIDENTS THAT HE PLANS TO COME BACK TO THE COUNCIL TO SHARE SOME IDEAS ON HOW THEY MAY BE ABLE TO REGULATE THAT SPACE IN MAGDALA ONE OF THE WAYS THE CITY IS TRYING TO COMBAT THIS VIOLENCE IS TO PROTECT CITIZENS HERE IN BUSH HILLS AND AROUND BIRMINGHAM BY KIND OF GOING AFTER BUSINESS OWNERS. YEAH. SO THEY’RE TAKING LEGAL ACTION. AND I SPOKE WITH THE CITY ATTORNEY TODAY. AND WHILE THEY’RE TAKING THE LEGAL ACTION, SHE COULD NOT SPEAK WITH ME ABOUT THE SPECIFICS OF THIS CASE. BUT SHE SAYS THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THEY ARE FILING A LAWSUIT AGAINST THE THESE PARTICULAR BUSINESSES BEHIND ME. SOME MAY CONSIDER IT A LONG TIME COMING NOW THAT THE CITY OF BIRMINGHAM JUST FILED A LAWSUIT TO HOLD THESE TWO BUSINESSES ON THIRD AVENUE WEST ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE VIOLENCE THAT KEEPS HAPPENING ON THEIR PROPERTY. BIRMINGHAM CITY ATTORNEY NICOLE KING. WE ABSOLUTELY GET A LOT OF CALLS AND CITIZEN COMPLAINTS REGARDING THIS PARTICULAR LOCATION. EARLY SUNDAY MORNING, BIRMINGHAM POLICE SAY SEVEN MEN WERE SHOT WHILE PEOPLE WERE ERRATICALLY SHOOTING THEIR GUNS WITH NO ONE AS THEIR TARGET. ONE MAN DIED FOR YEARS. POLICE AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS SAY VIOLENCE HAS BEEN A PROBLEM. THERE ARE SOME PEOPLE WHO ARE ASKING WHY NOW? SO WHAT WOULD YOU ANSWER TO THAT? WHY NOT NOW? THE CITIZENS HAVE REACHED OUT. THE CITIZENS ARE CONCERNED. THE CITIZENS ARE AFRAID AND SCARED. WHY NOT NOW? JEFFERSON COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY DANNY CARR ALSO SUPPORTS THIS NEW LAWSUIT. HE SAYS IN COURT FILINGS HIS OFFICE HAS HAD DIFFICULTY GETTING THE GAS STATION OWNER TO COOPERATE WITH HIS OFFICE FOR CRIMES THAT HAPPENED ON THEIR PROPERTY. WHY NOT JUST PULL THEIR LICENSE INSTEAD OF SUING? SO THERE’S DIFFERENT AVENUES, THERE’S DIFFERENT TOOLS IN THE TOOLBOX THAT THE CITY OF BIRMINGHAM CAN USE. BUT WE HAVE TO LOOK HOLISTICALLY AND WE DON’T LOOK AT ANYTHING IN ISOLATION. IN ADDITION TO THE SUIT, THE CITY HAS ITS DRUG NUISANCE ABATEMENT TEAM READY TO HOLD THESE OWNERS ACCOUNTABLE TO MAKE CHANGES. IF NOT, THE CITY HAS ASKED THE COURT TO DEMOLISH THE PROPERTY, BUT THAT, KING SAYS, IS TO BE DETERMINED. AND THAT, AGAIN, IS SOMETHING THAT WE WOULD PRESENT TO A COURT AND TO THE COURT AT THE END WILL MAKE THAT FINAL DECISION UNLESS THERE ARE TERMS THAT ARE NEGOTIATED AMONGST THE INDIVIDUAL PARTIES. NOW, ATTORNEY KING TELLS ME, SINCE DEAN THAT STARTED IN 2020, THEY HAVE HAD 120 COMPLAINTS FILED AGAINST SEVERAL BUSINESSES ACROSS THE CITY. AND THOSE COMPLAINTS HAVE BEEN RESOLVED ALL THROUGH THE COURT SYSTEM. AND SHE ALSO SAYS CITIZEN COMPLAINTS ARE ANONYMOUS. SHE ENCOURAGES PEOPLE TO KEEP CALLING NAT TO FILE IN THEIR COMPLAINTS SO THAT THEY CAN TAKE CARE OF THESE ISSUES. WE’RE LIV