MONTGOMERY, ALA. (AP) — According to law enforcement officials, an Alabama man who was charged with the murders of four people in September has now been charged with capital murder in connection with a separate quadruple homicide that occurred in July.
Officer Truman Fitzgerald said at a news conference Tuesday night that Damien McDaniel, 22, has been taken into custody and charged with capital murder in relation to the July 13 mass shooting outside a Birmingham nightclub that claimed four lives and injured ten more. Additionally, McDaniel is charged with three other shooting deaths that occurred on three different days in August and September.
In relation to the July mass shooting, Hatarius Woods, a 27-year-old man, was also charged with capital murder.
According to Fitzgerald, these people began in July and continued until September. On these crime scenes, we frequently state that a small number of offenders contribute to the crime and damage Birmingham’s reputation.
According to Fitzgerald, Woods and McDaniel are suspected of being behind almost 30% of all killings that occurred in the city between July and September. Emails seeking response from Woods and McDaniel’s attorneys were not answered.
McDaniel is charged with killing 11 people and injuring 29 others in five different incidents over a two-month period, including the charges that were announced Tuesday. One of the charges relates to the mass shooting outside a different nightclub on September 21, in which four people were shot dead and 17 others were injured.
Fitzgerald stated on Tuesday that the investigation into the September mass shooting is still underway and that there were numerous gunmen. Birmingham experienced its third mass shooting of the year in September.
Following a deadly shooting on Sunday that marked the 145th homicide of 2024, Birmingham broke the decades-old homicide record set in 2022.
Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin sat in front of a table with 145 weapons on it, symbolizing the city’s homicide total since the year began, in a 30-minute video that was made public Tuesday night. In order to combat the widespread gun violence in the city, he pleaded with state lawmakers for assistance.
Woodfin pointed to the firearms in front of him and stated, “People are still legally permitted to drive around with these types of guns, even if I give you more officers on our streets.” Woodfin said that while he was in favor of the Second Amendment, he also wanted to give the city’s voters the power to decide whether to tighten gun control laws.
I would wager that Birmingham folks have had enough of this and want to see additional gun-safety legislation put in place to protect citizens, but that has to come from someone higher up than me, Woodfin said.
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The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative is where Safiyah Riddle is a corps member.A nonprofit national service initiative called Report for America places reporters in local newsrooms to explore topics that aren’t often covered.
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