One person was killed and eight others were wounded Saturday night when gunfire broke out just outside Legion Field, shortly after the Magic City Classic — the annual rivalry game between Alabama A&M and Alabama State — had ended, Birmingham police said.
Multiple shots rang out in the 400 block of Graymont Avenue West, behind the south end zone of the stadium, at about 7:50 p.m., and responding officers found multiple people with gunshot wounds, De'Rell Freeman, an assistant public information officer with the Birmingham Police Department, told reporters, according to CNN. Police taped off the block as investigators worked the scene Saturday night, the area lit by emergency lights long after the stadium had emptied. In all, nine people were shot. One died — a death the Jefferson County Coroner's Office confirmed, the New York Post reported — one was in critical condition, and seven others were in stable condition, Freeman said.
"Multiple firearms were recovered from the scene by officers and turned into our property room," Freeman said. One person was detained and transported to Birmingham police headquarters for questioning, he added. Police have not announced an arrest, have not identified the person detained or any of the victims, and have not given a motive for the shooting.
Birmingham Police Chief Michael Pickett said the shooting occurred after the game, and that most spectators and families had already left the stadium property, the Associated Press reported. Officers were already at the stadium for the game, and police rendered aid at the scene as medics arrived.
On the field, the 85th Classic had ended in a finish worthy of the rivalry. Alabama A&M beat Alabama State 31–28 — the Bulldogs' first win in the series since 2021, snapping a four-game losing streak against the Hornets — according to Alabama A&M Athletics.
The Bulldogs (7–2, 4–1 SWAC) struck first with a 94-yard opening drive, capped by quarterback Cornelious Brown IV's six-yard touchdown pass to Jaylan Bean, and stretched the lead to 14–0 on a second scoring pass early in the second quarter. Alabama State (4–4, 2–3 SWAC) answered before halftime on a 17-yard touchdown run on fourth down, and Alabama A&M led 14–7 at the break.
A 29-yard field goal made it 17–7 in the third quarter, but the Hornets closed to 17–14 on a four-yard touchdown run by Hostzclaw. Brown answered with a nine-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter to restore the 10-point margin at 24–14, only for Alabama State to score again and cut the lead to 24–21.
Kolton Nero then broke the game open — and nearly put it away — with a 61-yard run that set up his own four-yard touchdown and a 31–21 lead with 3:47 left. But DJ Hicks returned the ensuing kickoff 86 yards to the Alabama A&M 6-yard line, and the Hornets punched it in from three yards out to make it 31–28 with 3:01 remaining. Alabama State got the ball back once more, with 1:37 to play, but a fourth-down pass fell incomplete with 1:10 left and the Bulldogs ran out the clock.
Brown was named the game's Offensive MVP, and DJ Barber took Defensive MVP honors. The victory was also the 50th of head coach Sam Shade's career.
The Classic is the centerpiece of the HBCU football calendar. First played in 1924 and held every year since 1945, it has called Legion Field home since 1946, pits Alabama's two largest historically Black universities against each other, and is the largest HBCU football game in the country — a weekend that fills Birmingham with alumni, marching bands and tailgates long before kickoff.
Saturday's gunfire was the second shooting in two weekends outside a major Black college football game. On October 25 in Tallahassee, hours after Florida A&M's homecoming game against Arkansas–Pine Bluff — a 31–28 loss for the Rattlers — shots were fired on Perry Street, just behind Bragg Memorial Stadium, wounding 11 people. Six of the wounded were juveniles, one of them 11 years old, CNN reported. No one was killed in that shooting.
Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell said that shooting grew out of an altercation among individuals who knew one another, and that none of the victims appeared to be intended targets. A 15-year-old was arrested the following day and will be charged as an adult with 11 counts of attempted second-degree murder, police said. Florida A&M plays in the same conference as the two Birmingham schools, the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
Much about Saturday night in Birmingham remains unknown. Police have not released the names of the nine people shot, have not said what led to the gunfire or how many people fired weapons, and have not announced whether the person taken in for questioning will face charges.
This is a developing story. Previously will update it as Birmingham police release more information.
