One person is dead and eight others were wounded after gunfire broke out just outside Birmingham’s Legion Field on Saturday night, after the 85th Magic City Classic between Alabama A&M and Alabama State, according to Birmingham police as reported by ABC 33/40 and WBRC.
“Multiple shots rang out in the 400 block of Graymont Avenue West shortly after 7:50 p.m.,” Officer De’Rell Freeman, an assistant public information officer for the Birmingham Police Department, said at a news conference, according to ABC 33/40.
🚨Birmingham Police Department Needs Your Assistance🚨
The Birmingham Police Department is asking for the public’s assistance in sharing any video footage you may have from the Magic City Classic shooting incident at Legion Field that occurred on Saturday, October 31, 2026.
— Bhampolice (@BhamPolice) November 1, 2026
Police Chief Michael Pickett said one person was in critical condition and seven others were stable, ABC 33/40 reported. Early Sunday morning, Birmingham police said one victim remained in critical condition and seven others were in stable condition, according to WBRC. Police have not identified the person who was killed.
Pickett said most spectators and families had already left the stadium property when the shooting happened nearby, where vendors were set up along Graymont Avenue, according to ABC 33/40. He said he was “very grateful that more people weren’t injured,” the station reported.
One person detained, firearms recovered
Freeman said one person had been detained and taken to police headquarters for processing, and officers recovered multiple firearms from the scene, ABC 33/40 reported. WBRC reported the person was taken in for questioning. Police have not announced whether the detained person has been charged or what led to the shooting, according to ABC 33/40, and no suspect has been publicly named.
Authorities said no officers or first responders were injured, WBRC reported. Pickett called the shooting a “senseless act of violence,” according to WBRC, and praised officers who ran toward the gunfire to help victims. “Our Birmingham police officers are true heroes,” Pickett said, as quoted by ABC 33/40.
The Birmingham Police Department posted on X that all Magic City Classic tailgating had been suspended and told everyone to leave the stadium property as soon as possible. According to WBRC, the department received help from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, the Vestavia Hills Police Department, FBI Birmingham, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Police ask the public for video
In a post on X, the Birmingham Police Department asked anyone with video from the Magic City Classic shooting to share it with investigators through an online portal, saying people who submit footage will remain anonymous. “It may seem like it’s nothing. It may seem insignificant. Please send it in,” Pickett said, according to ABC 33/40. Pickett said the department is working with the FBI and partner agencies, the station reported. Police did not take questions at the news conference, according to ABC 33/40.
Pickett said the shooting would not define the event. “The Magic City Classic is a staple event here in our community,” he said, according to ABC 33/40. “This will not take away from that.”
ABC 33/40 noted that on Oct. 25, 2024, the day before that year’s game, police responded to two separate shootings near Legion Field about an hour apart.
Anyone with information can contact the Birmingham police homicide unit at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777, according to ABC 33/40.
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- Original post: Bhampolice (@BhamPolice) on X, Oct 31, 2026
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