Gunmen open up fire at hookah lounge, killing 4, injuring 17

homesafetytechpros — Mon, 23 Sep 2024 04:27:20 +0000

Gunmen opened up fire at a Birmingham, Alabama, hookah lounge that killed four people and injured 17. (WVTM/YouTube).

A group of alleged hitmen got out of a vehicle and opened up fire at a hookah lounge in Birmingham, Alabama, and killed their intended target along with three other bystanders caught in the hail of bullets, according to police. In addition, 17 other people suffered bullet wounds in the mass shooting at the popular nightlife district, cops say.

The gunmen remain at large, Birmingham police Chief Scott Thurmond told reporters at a press conference Sunday morning. It happened around 11 p.m. Saturday outside Hush, a hookah and cigar lounge on Magnolia Avenue in Five Points South. Thurmond said the investigation is still in its early stages, but cops have been able to determine the shooting was targeted.

“We believe there was a hit, if you will, on that particular person, where someone was willing to pay money to have that person killed,’’ he said.

Police recovered over 100 shell casings from what Thurmond described as automatic firearms. Thurmond did not expand on the motive for the alleged hit, but said the shooters had been looking for their target who happened to be at the hookah lounge.

“It wasn’t the location, it was the person, so wherever the person was was where it was going to take place,’’ Thurmond said. “Wherever they can catch that individual. That’s just where they happened to catch them.”

After the shooting, the suspects drove away. Paramedics rushed the victims to various hospitals. Police did not give reporters updated conditions on the surviving victims. No names have been released.

“To the victims and their families, our heartfelt condolences go out to them,” said Thurmond. “That’s 21 people’s whose lives were forever changed. That’s 21 families who some were destroyed and some were forever altered.”

One of the survivors described the chaos in an interview with AL.com. Gabriel Eslami, 24, was waiting to get into the bar with some friends from high school when all of a sudden shots rang out.

“In my mind, when it first started happening, I thought they were just shooting at people in the front of the line, but they were shooting up the line,’’ he said.

He then began to run and suffered a gunshot wound to the left buttocks.

“I look back and it’s just gun smoke and peoples bodies laid out on the pavement,’’ he said. “My car was parked out front and there was blood all over my car from other people.”

Eslami said a friend of his, who suffered a graze wound to the arm, rushed him to the hospital.

Anyone with information is asked to submit evidence to the Birmingham Police Department’s evidence submission portal or call Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.

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Mother, daughter killed when gunmen fire at their SUV: Cops

homesafetytechpros — Sun, 17 Mar 2024 05:51:14 +0000

Dejan Belnavis, left, was charged in the deaths of Chasity Nunez and her 11-year-old daughter, Zella, right. (Victims photos from their obituary; Belnavis’ mug shot from Massachusetts State Police)

A man faces murder charges in the deaths of a mother and her blind 11-year-old daughter shot while sitting in a parked SUV in Massachusetts.

Dejan Belnavis, 27, was charged in the deaths of Chasity Nuñez, 27, and her 11-year-old daughter, Zella. Belnavis was taken into custody in San Diego, California, after a traffic stop. He was the second person arrested in the case.

Mother and daughter were killed on March 5, officials said. Worcester police were dispatched to Lisbon Street at Englewood Avenue at 3:09 p.m. for a report of gunshots. Once there, officers found a parked vehicle with the victims inside. They had suffered serious injuries and were taken to a hospital, where they died.

Hundreds of mourners paid their respects to the victims at their funerals on Thursday.

“Terrible,” “tragic,” “pure devastation,” some said, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported.

Belnavis, who’s being held in custody in California, was expected to be extradited to Massachusetts soon to face charges, according to the Worcester District Attorney’s Office, the news site reported. Citing authorities, the Telegram & Gazette said he has a criminal record and had ties to gangs.

Nunez was a Specialist E4 in the Connecticut National Guard.

“Our hearts are broken because we lost Specialist Chasity Nunez to senseless violence,” Connecticut National Guard Public Affairs Office Maj. Dave Pytlik said in a statement. “She and her daughter were killed while sitting in their vehicle in their own neighborhood.”

“Chasity was beloved by her fellow Soldiers in the 142nd Medical Company,” Pytlik said. “Her wit, social nature and dedication to duty made her one of the best Soldiers in our unit. I cannot begin to make sense of why this happened and why her family, friends, co-workers and fellow Soldiers have been robbed of her and Zella. What we can, and must do now, is support one another as we grieve, process this profound loss and honor their memory.”

She was studying for her second master’s degree and worked as a patient safety and clinical quality coordinator at MIT.

“Chasity was a force to be reckoned with; incredibly dependable,” her obituary said. “There wasn’t anything she couldn’t do, and if it couldn’t be done immediately, you better believe she would strategize to make sure it got done. She brightened up every room she walked into, evident in the outpouring of love she has received.”

She left behind a 2-year-old daughter, a fundraising website said. Her daughters were the center of her world.

“Everything she did to elevate her life was for them,” the obit said.

Zella was an optimistic and creative soul, the obit continued.

“Much like her mother, she wanted to dabble in everything from painting, singing, dancing to skating,” it read. “She was kindhearted, a joy to be around and loved to teach us her latest TikTok dances. Her benevolent nature won hearts easily.”

Tyrae Sims, Zella’s cousin and godfather, who told NBC Boston affiliate WBTS she was legally blind, was shattered.

“Zella was just the best,” Sims said “She was the best, so full of life, such a good little girl. She didn’t deserve it at all.”

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Gunmen open up fire at hookah lounge, killing 4, injuring 17

Mother, daughter killed when gunmen fire at their SUV: Cops