Law enforcement have now released the name of a man who was killed early Monday in a shooting outside of a Birmingham, Alabama stripclub in what appeared to have started over a lighter.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Man killed in shooting outside Birmingham strip club <a href="https://t.co/88MmE05Bey">https://t.co/88MmE05Bey</a></p>— ABC 33/40 News (@abc3340) <a href="https://twitter.com/abc3340/status/894536752223932416">August 7, 2017</a></blockquote>
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The Jefferson County Coroner's Office identified the victim as 23 year old Gerald Duane Bailey.
Police say the incident happened at around 3:30 AM across the street from The Palace in the 600 block of Third Avenue West in Birmingham.
Witnesses said that Bailey asked someone to borrow a lighter and when he didn't immediately give the lighter back, an argument followed between the two men. The Stripclub security then intervened and tossed both men out.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">UPDATE: Lt. Sean Edwards with the Birmingham PD says 3rd Ave. west shooting victim has died. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/wbrc?src=hash">#wbrc</a></p>— Sherea Harris (@ShereaHarris) <a href="https://twitter.com/ShereaHarris/status/894522819622690816">August 7, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Lt. Sean Edwards said that as Bailey was going to his vehicle which was parked across the street, a second vehicle drove by and began shooting, striking him several times. He was taken to University of Alabama Birmingham Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 5:45 AM while undergoing surgery.
"We hope this young man did not lose his life over a lighter,'' Edwards said. "We are confident, the shooter will be located."
In what appears to be a crime wave of epic proportions, Bailey is now Birmingham's 63rd homicide this year. Out of those 63 murders thus far, at least five have been ruled as justifiable and therefore aren't deemed as criminal acts.
In all of Jefferson County, Alabama, there have been a total of 95 homicides including the 63 in Birmingham.
Birmingham activist Carlos Chaverst said he and Bailey both attended high school together in Center Point and remained friends after graduation, speaking at least twice a week.
"Gerald Bailey was a great guy,'' Chaverst said. "Gerald and I were beginning to work with a few local judges to help curb some of the violence in our communities and get younger people off the streets after going through the system himself."
"He was one of the most loving, caring and funniest individuals you'd meet,'' he said. "He made sure he told people he loved them when he finished phone conversations or via text."
Source:
http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2017/08/23-year-old_man_shot_killed_in.html
