An argument between two men at a Birmingham walking trail at a busy intersection on the city’s west side left one man dead and another on the run.
The victim has been identified as Randolph Taylor Jr. He was 48 and lived in Birmingham.
The deadly shooting happened just before 12:30 p.m. Saturday at the West End Walking Trail on Cotton Avenue S.W.
Officer Truman Fitzgerald said officers responding to the walking trail after Shot Spotter, the city’s gunfire detection system, indicated shots fired in that area.
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While they were en route, they were notified that someone had been hit.
Taylor was found in the center of the walking trail next to a brick landscaping wall. Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service pronounced him dead on the scene.
Distraught family quickly descended upon the park area.
Fitzgerald said investigators believe the victim was involved in a physical fight with another man.
‘”During that physical altercation, the suspect shot the victim and then fled on foot,’’ he said.
The department’s Real Time Crime Center is helping in the investigation and a tracking dog was brought to the crime scene to help try to find the suspect.
The suspect fled toward the nearby Quik Mart store.
A man was shot to death Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024, at the West End Walking Trail on Cotton Avenue in Birmingham.(Carol Robinson)
Fitzgerald said the victim was hanging out in the park, not exercising. It’s not clear if the two men knew each other.
Taylor is the 148th person to die in a homicide in Birmingham in 2024.
With 17 days left in 2024, the city has now tied its all-time high record, set in 1933, for homicides in a single year.
“Like we said on homicide No. 1, that was already one too many,’’ Fitzgerald said.
“What hurts the most is around the holiday season is when our families feel the effects the most,’’ he said. “Right now, our No. 1 goal is solving these homicides, getting these people off the streets because as we’ve said before, many of these suspects go on to commit other homicides.”
The city’s population today is a little under 197,000 people, giving the city a murder rate of 7.5 homicides per 10,000 people.
In 1933, Birmingham had just under 269,000 people, giving the city a murder rate of 5.7 homicides for every 10,000 people.
The city ended 2023 with 135 homicides, a 6.25% drop over 2022 which had 144 homicides.
Birmingham’s 2022 homicide total was the deadliest year in recent city history — 141 in 1991.
Birmingham ended 2021 with 132 homicides; 2020 with 122 homicides; 2019 with 106 homicides; and 2018 with 107 homicides.
Of the 148 homicides in 2024, 11 have been ruled justifiable and therefore aren’t deemed criminal. One of the homicides was an officer-involved shooting, and two others were shootings that happened in previous years, but the victims died in 2024.
Anyone with information is asked to call detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.
