Four people were killed and 17 others injured in a mass shooting late Saturday night in Birmingham, Alabama, when multiple gunmen opened fire in a busy entertainment district. The shooting, which took place in the Five Points South area, is believed to have been a targeted attack on one individual, with the remaining victims caught in the crossfire, police said. “Someone was willing to pay money to have that person killed,” Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond said at a news conference on Sunday.

The gunmen arrived in a vehicle just after 11 p.m., opened fire, and then fled the scene, according to police. The attack, which left more than 100 shell casings scattered across the area, killed two men and a woman at the scene, while a fourth man died later at a hospital. The Birmingham Police Department, working with the FBI, is urging anyone with information to come forward as the shooters remain at large. Investigators suspect that illegal gun conversion devices, which can turn semi-automatic weapons into fully automatic firearms, may have been used.

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin described the city’s gun violence as being at “epidemic levels” and called for stricter laws to combat the issue. He specifically pointed to the use of conversion devices, which are federally illegal but not regulated at the state level. The mayor said enforcement requires a political shift, noting that stronger laws are needed to give police “the tools to take shooters off the streets prior to an incident like this.”

The shooting took place in one of Birmingham’s liveliest neighborhoods, known for its bars, restaurants, and live music venues. Witnesses described a scene of chaos as emergency responders worked to transport victims to hospitals. One bystander, Dajon Singleton, told a local news affiliate that he heard screams and watched as several victims were taken away on stretchers. “It was very devastating,” Singleton said, adding that crime in the area typically spikes around the holidays.

As of Sunday evening, four of the surviving victims were reported to be in life-threatening condition. The shooting is part of a larger trend of escalating gun violence in Birmingham, which has seen an increase in homicides this year despite national declines. “Rest assured, we are going to do everything we possibly can to uncover, identify, and hunt down who was ever responsible,” Officer Truman Fitzgerald said. Local businesses have been asked to provide any surveillance footage that could aid in the investigation.

Taylen Mosley, a 2-year-old boy who went missing on Wednesday, was found dead on Friday in the jaws of an alligator near his family’s apartment in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The child Mosley’s mother Pashun Jeffrey was also found dead inside her apartment after she sustained stab wounds, CBS 12 reported.

The post 2-Year-Old Found Inside An Alligator’s Mouth In Florida, Mother Fatally Stabbed In Apartment appeared first on Blavity.

The boy’s father, 21-year-old Thomas Mosley, is now charged with two counts of first-degree murder, police said.

St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway said officers “spotted an alligator with an object in its mouth” as they were searching for Taylen near Dell Holmes Park.

“As the detectives got closer they fired one round to the alligator,” Holloway said at a press conference on Friday. “The alligator dropped the object that he had in his mouth and we were able to retrieve Taylen’s body intact.”

Neighbors told police that they heard a loud commotion near the family’s apartment around 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, CBS News reported. However, police were not called at that time.

Jeffery’s mother contacted the apartment complex property manager the next day after not hearing from her daughter.

The FBI joined the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and local authorities, along with dive teams, to look for Taylen. That’s when they found the 2-year-old in the mouth of an alligator in a recreation area near his home.

Source: 2-Year-Old Found Inside An Alligator’s Mouth In Florida, Mother Fatally Stabbed In Apartment

Fredarrious Wilson, an 18-year-old who was reported missing from Arkansas nearly a week ago, was found dead in a national forest in Mississippi on Wednesday. Shirley Howell said her son was found with multiple gunshots, prompting multiple agencies to open up a homicide investigation.

The grieving mother told WREG that surveillance footage showed Wilson at a McDonald’s on Missouri Street in West Memphis, Arkansas. That’s where he was allegedly seen with a woman in question.

“Good afternoon y’all my son didn’t have any enemies, nor was he a trouble child he worked, went to school, and played his game he was a pure momma’s boy he went on a date with this girl 3 times and now he’s nowhere to be found or heard from y’all please help bring my baby boy home I MISS MY BISCUIT WYA LORD HELP ME,” Howell wrote on Facebook Tuesday.

The post Missing Arkansas Teen Found Dead In A Mississippi National Forest With Multiple Gunshot Wounds, Homicide Investigation  Opened appeared first on Blavity.

Howell reported her son missing after he told her that he was going on a date with a classmate and never came back home.

“I’m texting his phone asking him, ‘boy where you at?’ No response. I called, no response. I’m calling, calling, calling back and forth calling, no response,” Howell told WREG.

Source: Missing Arkansas Teen Found Dead In A Mississippi National Forest With Multiple Gunshot Wounds, Homicide Investigation Opened

*(CNN) — A mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade Monday in a suburb outside Chicago, Illinois, left at least six people dead and wounded more than two dozen others, Highland Park Police Commander Chris O’Neill said.

Caring Father Cuts His 10-Year-Old Locs to Support Young Daughter in Chemotherapy | VIDEO

Police are still searching for the suspect, who O’Neill described as a white man between 18-20 years old and wearing a T-shirt.

A rifle was recovered from the scene, he said. He said the attack appears to be “completely random” and the suspect appeared to shoot from a roof. O’Neill advised people to shelter in place.

A total of 31 people were transported to hospitals, according to hospital spokespeople.

Source: 6 Dead, Over 2-Dozen Wounded After Shooting At Fourth of July Parade in Highland Park, IL | WATCH-Live