One person was killed and eight others were injured in a shooting near Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama, on Saturday after the annual Magic City Classic football game, police said. The gunfire erupted in an area along Graymont Avenue where vendors had set up outside the stadium.
Birmingham Police Chief Michael Pickett said most fans and families had departed the stadium property before the shooting began. He described it as a "completely senseless act of violence" and said he was "very grateful that more people weren't injured." Pickett also urged a community response to violence, saying the problem extended beyond Birmingham to communities across the country.
What led to the shooting remained unclear. Police spokesperson De'Rell Freeman said officers had detained one person and taken that person to police headquarters to be questioned. Freeman also said police had recovered and secured multiple weapons.
Nearly 70,000 spectators attended Saturday's matchup between Alabama State and Alabama A&M, with Alabama A&M winning 31-28. The two historically Black universities are archrivals, and their annual football contest dates back more than a century. It attracts some of the biggest crowds for games in the schools' college football division.
The game's long history has prompted Alabama State coach Eddie Robinson Jr. to suggest establishing a Hall of Fame dedicated to the Classic. Robinson is an alumnus of Alabama State and a former NFL linebacker. The Birmingham shooting was one of several violent incidents reported around the country over Halloween weekend.
In Dallas, three shootings occurred just minutes apart in the downtown Deep Ellum neighborhood. Four people were killed and five others were injured in those incidents.
Six people were shot near the University of Delaware campus in Newark shortly after 11:10 p.m. Saturday, according to Newark police Lt. Greg D'Elia. All were transported to hospitals. Footage posted on social media showed people fleeing the area, and a section of Main Street remained closed for several hours.
In Bloomington, Illinois, an early Sunday shooting near Illinois Wesleyan University killed a 19-year-old woman and left another woman in critical condition. Six additional people suffered injuries described as not life-threatening. A statement from Bloomington police and the McLean County Coroner's Office did not make clear whether those six had been shot. The city lies about 135 miles southwest of Chicago.
Another shooting early Sunday in Fayetteville, Arkansas, sent six people to hospitals with gunshot wounds. Police said in a news release that no arrests had been made and that preliminary findings indicated an altercation occurred before the gunfire. On Friday, two people were killed at Spirit Halloween stores in California and Michigan.
