TUSCALOOSA — A gunman opened fire early this morning at a bar in the hometown of the University of Alabama, wounding multiple people, police said today.
A total of 17 people were being treated at DCH Regional Medical Center, hospital spokesman Brad Fisher told The Associated Press.
Four of the victims have been admitted to the hospital, and two of them were receiving critical care, Fisher said. It wasn’t immediately known whether all had been hit by gunfire, he said.
Tuscaloosa police Sgt. Brent Blankley said multiple people were shot at the Copper Top bar around 12:30 a.m. today.
No arrests have been made, Blankley said. “We’re still trying to ID the shooter,” he said.
Surveillance video released by police showed a man described as a suspect. He is seen from the back as he walks down a sidewalk with what appears to be a gun in one hand.
Riley Dunn, a University of Alabama senior who was injured in the shooting, estimated that there were 80 to 90 people in the area at the time. One gunshot rang out, then about 20 seconds later “that’s when he really started firing them off” and everyone scattered, Dunn said.
There were trails of blood in the area around the Copper Top, Justin McDaniel told the Tuscaloosa newspaper. McDaniel said he wasn’t hit by the gunfire, but his shirt was stained with other people’s blood.
The bar is near a downtown square in an area that’s home to several nightspots and is popular with students from the university.
Police were still processing the scene this morning, Blankley said.
Police declined to release more details until a news conference.
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