Police have confirmed one death and at least eight injuries following a mass shooting after Saturday's "Magic City Classic" college football game featuring Alabama A&M and Alabama State at Birmingham's Legion Field.
Michael Pickett, chief of the Birmingham Police Department, told media outlets he was "very grateful that more people weren't injured" in the shooting after Alabama A&M's 31-28 win over Alabama State came in front of a near sellout crowd of 70,000-plus fans.
The shooting happened just before 8 p.m. local time (CT) near Graymont Avenue West and Fourth Street West just outside Legion Field where vendors and fans were gathered for postgame tailgating. Multiple emergency and police personnel responded to calls after the shooting, according to AL.com.
Birmingham police officer De'Rell Freeman said one person had been detained and transported to police headquarters and that multiple weapons were gathered.
Pickett categorized the shooting as "two senseless acts of violence" during his brief press conference with local media.
"This is something that we not only see here in Birmingham, we see it all over the nation," Pickett said, per AL.com. "It's important that we as a community address this issue as a community.
"Our Birmingham police officers are true heroes. Seeing the courage and the resilience they displayed tonight running alongside them in the direction of those gunshots, that shows the true dedication they have to actually save lives."
Birmingham police issued an order for people to leave the area surrounding Legion Field just before 9 p.m. local time.
Pickett said Birmingham police would like all video of the incident submitted to them and they're being assisted by the FBI with the case.
"If you all saw anything, heard anything, recorded something on your device, may have been recording at the time, have any information that could help our investigators, we ask that you please come forward," Pickett said. "It may seem like it's nothing, it may seem insignificant, please send it in."
This story will be updated when more information becomes available.
