(GoRealNewsNow.com) – In a highly dangerous incident, a push for “street justice” led to a mass shooting on a highway that threatened multiple lives when one group of people opened fire at another after believing the latter had stolen one of their vehicles.
The severe incident unfolded on a bustling highway in Birmingham, Alabama, resulting in injuries to four individuals during what police described as a “shootout.”
Birmingham police have taken a woman, identified as a person of interest, into custody following the event.
The altercation occurred on Interstate 59, southbound near the 20th Street Ensley exit, around 4:40 p.m. local time.
Officer Truman Fitzgerald of the Birmingham Police provided insights into the incident, indicating it likely originated from a dispute over a vehicle believed to be stolen.
“We believe that a group of individuals saw their stolen vehicle, or alleged stolen vehicle, and they began following that vehicle,” Fitzgerald explained to reporters in a press briefing.
“This party sees their possible stolen vehicle and they took it upon themselves to confront this group. A shootout ensued between both groups,” the officer added, as cited by ABC News.
All four men injured in the shootout were actively involved in the confrontation, according to Fitzgerald.
He confirmed that there were no injuries among bystanders. Two of the injured men, found at the scene with potentially life-threatening wounds, were in the vehicle alleged to be stolen.
The other two victims, with non-life-threatening injuries, independently arrived at the hospital for treatment.
The four injured men are currently considered suspects in the incident. Their ages have not been disclosed.
The woman in custody is believed to be part of the group that initiated the confrontation over the alleged stolen vehicle. However, the exact number of shots fired during the shootout remains unknown.
“It was a large shootout,” Fitzgerald stated.
Fitzgerald revealed that both parties involved are thought to have come to Birmingham from a nearby city, which he did not identify at the time.
“If this was the case that this party saw their possible stolen vehicle, all they had to do was call 911. That’s why we put on that uniform and that bullet-proof vest, to be put in those situations. But here you have someone that possibly took it upon themselves to confront a group, and now here you have a shootout on the interstate at 4:40 p.m.,” the officer said.
