A 17-year-old has been charged with murder in the Magic City Classic shooting, two bursts of gunfire outside Birmingham’s Legion Field that killed a 19-year-old and injured eight others Saturday night, police said.
Birmingham Police Chief Michael Pickett announced the charges Monday night. The teen is also charged with possession of a machine gun conversion device, ABC News reported. Police said he will be held without bond in the Jefferson County Jail and have not released his name. He is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
The Jefferson County coroner identified the man killed as Dre’Shawn Te’Verious Thomas, 19, of Birmingham. Thomas graduated from A.H. Parker High School this year, WBRC reported.
What happened outside Legion Field
The violence came more than an hour after Alabama A&M beat Alabama State 31-28 in front of nearly 70,000 fans. Pickett said most spectators and families had already left the stadium property, but tailgating and vendors were still active nearby.
Around 7:50 p.m., shots were reported along Graymont Avenue, De’Rell Freeman, the police department’s assistant public information officer, told reporters. Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said Sunday that what first looked like one incident was actually two separate shootings.
The first happened beyond the stadium perimeter and tailgating area, and six people were shot. Less than eight minutes later, while officers and other personnel were responding to that scene, a second shooting left three more people shot across Graymont Avenue, near the food vendors.
Thomas was pronounced dead at the scene at 8:24 p.m., according to the coroner’s report. As of Monday, one of the injured remained in critical condition, and the other seven had non-life-threatening injuries, police said. The injured range in age from 19 to 30.
Police suspended all tailgating and told people to leave the stadium property as soon as possible. Officers also collected multiple guns from the area.
Officers caught the 17-year-old in an alley as he tried to run from the area shortly after the shots were fired, police said. Woodfin said the teen had a gun equipped with a Glock switch, a device that turns a semi-automatic handgun into a fully automatic one. The mayor also said the teen isn’t affiliated with either university.
What it means for fans and the community
Woodfin responded on social media Saturday night. “Our community is hurt, shaken and rightfully angry. So am I,” he wrote. “There is no argument, no beef, no misunderstanding that can justify this level of senseless violence during a night of celebration.”
The Magic City Classic is billed as the largest historically Black college and university football game in the country, and Saturday marked its 85th edition. For fans of an event built around school pride and tradition, the shooting cut against everything the rivalry weekend is meant to be.
City leaders have been clear that they don’t want it to define the game. The shootings happened after official Classic events, Woodfin said, and he promised the city would keep supporting them. “This shooting had absolutely nothing to do with the Magic City Classic and we will not buy into false narratives about our HBCUs,” he wrote Monday.
The shooting in Tallahassee a week earlier
The gunfire in Birmingham followed another shooting near a historically Black university by just seven days. On Oct. 24, 11 people were shot near Florida A&M University’s Bragg Memorial Stadium in Tallahassee, hours after the school’s homecoming game. Six of them were juveniles, including an 11-year-old, police said.
Tallahassee police later arrested a 15-year-old, who faces 11 counts of attempted second-degree murder, theGrio reported. Authorities have not established a connection between that shooting and the game. No link between the Tallahassee and Birmingham shootings has been reported.
What’s next
Investigators believe more than one suspect was involved, Pickett said Monday, ABC 33/40 reported. The police news release announcing the charges did not say whether additional suspects are being sought. The FBI is assisting with the case, according to CBS Sports. Police have not released a motive.
Birmingham police are asking anyone with video or information to come forward. Tips can go to the homicide unit at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777, and video can be submitted anonymously through the department’s online portal.
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