A man shot late Tuesday afternoon inside a crowded southwest Birmingham convenience store may have become a homicide victim for something as trivial as a social media dispute, police said.
West Precinct officers responded to the Big Boy Convenience Store at 2714 Pearson Ave. SW just before 5 p.m. on a report of a person shot, said Officer Truman Fitzgerald.
Officers found a man suffering from a gunshot wound and lying unresponsive in front of the store.
Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service personnel were transporting the victim to UAB Hospital when he died en route, said Fitzgerald.
“We believe that two adult males who were involed in an armed confrontation with one another,” Fitzgerald said, citing the preliminary investigation into the homicide. “One party had a gun, the second party had a gun, and one of those males fired shots.”
Police were searching for the gunman and other males involved in the confrontation.
Witnesses were asked to call Crimestoppers at 205-254-7777; tipsters may remain anonymous.
“This was a very tragic siuation,” Fitzgerald said. :There were other patrons inside of the business when the shooting occurred.”
No one else was shot.
Witnesses have been helpful to police, Fitzgerald said.
Detectives learned that the shooting may have unfolded over a small dispute.
“This could have possibly been over a Facebook beef,” Fitzgerald said.
One of the men was at the store when he was confronted by the other man, who may have been at the convenience store earlier before returning.
“This was a very personal incident where someone possibly scoped out another person and was willing to confront that individual at a crowded gas station during a rush hour time,” Fitzgerald said.
He said the incident “kind of epitomizes what Chief [Scott] Thurmond and Mayor [Randall] Woodfin have said: a lot of these incidents are personal and acquaintance-based.”
The incident, Fitzgerald said, showed that the violent crime plaguing the city is a systemic issue.
“We need the community’s help to help our city change the culture.” he said. “Someone willing to confront another one over something as small as a Facebook dispute, that’s a culture issue not a policing issue.”
The homicide was the city’s third since the weekend, when four people were killed a 17 others were injured in the shooting outside the Hush lounge in Five Points South.
