Four dead, 18 hurt in US mass shooting

ALABAMA, Sept 22 (BBC): At least four people have been killed and 18 injured in a mass shooting in Birmingham, Alabama, police say.

"Multiple shooters fired multiple shots on a group of people" late on Saturday in the Five Points South area of the city, Birmingham police officer Truman Fitzgerald said.

Officers found the bodies of two men and one woman at the scene, while a third man later died of bullet wounds in hospital, Birmingham Police said.

Detectives are investigating whether the gunmen walked up to the victims or drove by, Mr Fitzgerald said. No suspects have been arrested.

He added that they believed the shooting was "not random and stemmed from an isolated incident where multiple victims were caught in the crossfire".

Detectives are working to identify who was the intended target or targets of the attack, Mr Fitzgerald also said.

Witnesses who were queuing outside a hookah and cigar lounge on Magnolia Avenue at the time told local news site Al.com that some of the gunfire sounded as though it came from a gun converted to be fully automatic.