Seven victims were under the age of 20.
By:Anna Barrett-October 5, 20259:35 am Article courtesy of: https://alabamareflector.com/
Montgomery Police Chief James Graboys speaking to press on Oct. 5, 2025, after a mass shooting on the night of Oct. 4 in downtown Montgomery. Graboys said Sunday afternoon no arrests have been made in the shooting that killed two and injured 12. (Anna Barrett/Alabama Reflector)
A mass shooting following a football game in Montgomery Saturday night left two dead and 12 injured, according to police.
The injured included two juveniles, including one with life-threatening injuries.
Montgomery Police Chief James Graboys said at a press conference Sunday afternoon that the two deceased are Jeremiah Morris, 17, and Shalanda Williams, 43, who Graboys said are Montgomery residents.
No arrests had been made as of early Sunday afternoon. Graboys said MPD has some leads, but declined to comment further, citing the ongoing investigation.
Graboys also said MPD recovered multiple weapons at the scene, all of which had magazine capacity, and many different shell casings. Of the 12 injured by gunshots, seven are under 20 years old and five have life-threatening injuries. The youngest victim is 16.
According to Graboys, the shooting started in an altercation, which escalated to many people firing weapons.
“Individuals who pulled the trigger are responsible for this. They carried those weapons into the crowd, and at any time they could’ve walked away from this, or walked away from whatever was happening. But they did not,” Graboys said. “A bullet, once fired, does not come back.”
Graboys said there were five police officers within “running distance” and there were more that responded to the scene shortly after. Mayor Steven Reed said at the press conference there were multiple agencies on site, including the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department and Capitol Police.
“This was not a manpower issue, I can tell you that,” Graboys said. “When you know how fast a magazine can be emptied out of a handgun, an automatic handgun, that incident might have only taken less than 60 seconds.”
Graboys said anybody with video that may help the investigation should send it to starcenter@montgomeryal.gov. Anybody that submits a video that leads to an arrest will be awarded $50,000, a reward that was $5,000 but Reed and Montgomery City Council President increased.
“We want those who know to come forward, not because you want the money, but because you know what’s right,” Reed said.
Reed said in July that violent crime in the Capitol has decreased 28% in the first half of the year. Graboys said Sunday there have been 52 homicides in Montgomery this year, including the killings of Morris and Williams on Saturday.
Rep. Phillip Ensler, D-Montgomery, condemned the violence on his Facebook page early Sunday morning.
“I am praying for all of the victims and their loved ones. Let us all hope for and work towards the day of conflict being resolved in a non-violent way,” Ensler wrote.
Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth also extended his prayers Sunday morning.
“Fourteen injured, two dead, and others clinging to life after a Saturday shooting in downtown Montgomery,” he wrote. “Local leaders must be willing to lead in order to stop the crime and violence.”
Alabama had the fourth-highest firearm death rate in the nation in 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at 25.6 deaths per 100,000. More people died by gunfire in Alabama that year than in New York State, which has nearly four times Alabama’s population.
Saturday’s mass shooting took place just over a year after a mass shooting in Birmingham left four people dead and 17 injured. Birmingham police said Glock switches – devices that effectively turn firearms into automatic weapons – played a role. The incident led to the Legislature last year passing a law making possession of Glock switches a state crime, which Ensler helped pass.
This story was updated Oct. 5 at 1:57 p.m. following a press conference with Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed and Montgomery Police Chief James Graboys.
