Alabama Man Charged With Murder in Gas Station Shooting Deaths of 3 Near Birmingham

The Associated Press
By The Associated Press
September 3, 2024US News
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Alabama Man Charged With Murder in Gas Station Shooting Deaths of 3 Near Birmingham
Police tape in a file photo. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

BESSEMER, Ala.—Police have charged a 20-year-old Alabama man with capital murder in the shooting deaths of three men at a gas station near Birmingham.

Police in Bessemer said Monday that they have arrested Raukeem Cunningham in the fatal shootings on Friday. Cunningham is being held without bail, local news outlets reported. He is not yet listed in Jefferson County jail records, so it is unclear whether he has a lawyer or has seen a judge.

Police have said they believe there was at least one additional shooter and say they are still looking for possible suspects.

Christopher Eddins, 25, Ronald Dixon Jr., 20 and Wesley Fowler, 40, were all shot, police said. They all died before they could be taken to a hospital.

The shooting started in the parking lot of a convenience store, with the suspects initially shooting from a vehicle and then getting out and chasing the victims inside, said Bessemer Police Det. Justin Burmeister. Store surveillance cameras recorded much of the shooting.

Burmeister said at least two of the victims had come to the store together. He said police believe at least one of the victims was specifically targeted.

It was the first of two multi-victim shootings in Bessemer this weekend. On Sunday night, three men were shot while sitting in a pickup truck in a parking lot next to a different gas station. All three men were taken to a Birmingham hospital, two with life-threatening injuries.

Police haven’t announced any arrests in the second shooting.