Shooting incident in Montgomery leaves 2 dead, 12 injured

Two people are dead and 12 others injured during a shooting that took place in the downtown area of Montgomery on Saturday, said a press release from the city's police department. 

The shooting occurred at around 11:31 p.m. near Bibb Street and Commerce Street where one of the deceased victims was an adult female. Two juveniles are among those who were shot. 

17-year-old Jeremiah Morris and 43-year-old Shalanda Williams were identified as the two victims who died as a result.  

"Detectives are actively pursuing leads and reviewing evidence, including witness statements and surveillance footage," said the press release from the Montgomery Police Department (MPD). 

Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed and MPD Chief James Graboys held a press conference on Sunday addressing the incident and provided additional information. 

"We had something like this happen because of a disagreement," said Reed. "Because of something that, again, we believe could have been avoided and should have been. And I want the community to be well aware that for us this is not acceptable. We're not going to normalize this."

As of the time of the press release there are five victims that have life-threatening injuries while seven have non-life-threatening injuries, Graboys said. The youngest of those who were shot is 16. 

Graboys said that "multiple different" weapons were used in the incident and recovered by police. Two of the 14 victims were armed, he added. 

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"This started as a result of an individual, one of these 14 who we believe was targeted, in which basically an exchange of gunfire erupted," he said. "When that exchange erupted multiple people in the crowd, because this was a crowded area, pulled their own weapons and started discharging." 

He said that the MPD has been in communication with other agencies, including the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, Alabama Fusion Center, the county sheriff's department and others for the investigation. 

The suspects are still at large and a total $50,000 reward is being offered by CrimeStoppers for help that could lead to arrests.

Anyone who has information is asked to contact the Montgomery Police Department at 334-241-2651.

Video evidence can be emailed to starcenter@montgomeryal.gov. 

CrimeStoppers can be contacted at the 215-STOP (7867) 24-hour tip line, 1-833-AL1-STOP, download the P3-tips app, or the text-to-tip feature by texting keyword 215stop to 738477. Anyone who uses the feature is asked to receive a Tip ID and password to talk with investigators in case of any follow-up questions.

Update: This story has been edited to clarify that a total of 14 were shot, two of whom died, making the numbers 12 injured and two dead. This story has also been updated with additional information.