Man, woman and child found shot in car near Birmingham park

A toddler was among three people killed in a shooting near a Birmingham park on Saturday.

The shots rang out shortly before 5:30 p.m. in the 1700 block of Indian Summer Drive on the city’s east side.

The shooting happened in or near the entrance to Echo Highlands Park in the Echo Highlands neighborhood, which is off Winewood Road.

Officer Truman Fitzgerald said police initially received a 911 call about a wreck. When police arrived at the scene, they found a sedan in front of a house near the park.

It appeared to have jumped a curb and come to rest in front of the house. Police said the car was riddled with bullet holes.

Police found a man, a woman and a small school-aged child inside the vehicle. There was a mother and her son, as well as the mother’s boyfriend.

All three were pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said the little boy appeared to be no older than 7 or 8 years old.

“We believe there was some sort of interaction between the occupants of the victims’ vehicle and the suspects’ vehicle,” Fitzgerald said.

Witnesses told police they believed the shooter or shooters fled in another vehicle. Most of the carcasses were in the parking lot of the park.

Family members rushed to the scene, visibly distraught.

“Every time we have a crime, it affects us,” Fitzgerald said. “But when you have a child, it affects you differently.”

“In this case, we have a young, school-aged child who has been caught up in the violence that is happening in our city,” he said. “We have to ask the question, ‘When will enough be enough?'”

“We need to get to the bottom of this immediately,” he said.

The victims are the city’s 83rd, 84th and 85th homicides this year. Of these, eight were found to be justifiable and are therefore not considered criminal.

In all of Jefferson County, there were 108 homicides, including the 85 in Birmingham.

Police said they need the public’s help.

“There’s only one way in and one way out,” Fitzgerald said. “Someone saw something, someone heard something.”

Anyone with information is asked to call homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.