DeMarcus Dewon Bennett

A young Fairfield man died shortly after he was shot while stopped in the traffic jam on Birmingham's Third Avenue West on Saturday night.

Authorities today identified the victim as Demarcus Dewon Bennett. He was 20.

Gunfire erupted shortly before 11 p.m. in the 1000 block of Third Avenue West while thousands of people were on and around the roadway after the Magic City Classic that had taken place earlier in the day. Traffic was at a complete standstill - so much so that many motorists had gotten out of theirs cars - when shots rang out.

Birmingham police Lt. Barry Kennamer said two women and a man inside a silver Toyota Camry were struck by the bullets. One of the women was shot in the arm; the other in the leg. Both were expected to survive.

Bennett was shot in the torso area, and was rushed to UAB Hospital where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

Multiple police officers flocked to the scene. Kennamer said once they got the crowd dispersed, they found the shooting victims. Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service had trouble getting to the scene because of the traffic jam.

Police marked more than one dozen shell casings on Third Avenue West near the car where the victims were found.

Birmingham police spokesman Lt. Sean Edwards said detectives learned a black male suspect walked up to Bennett while he was sitting in his car and, shortly after, an argument ensued. Witnesses told police the suspect left, and then came back with a group of black males.

Another argument took place, he said, and the suspect pulled out a gun and fired several times, striking the three victims. The shooter fled the scene on foot. Edwards said the suspect and Bennett had some type of altercation within the last few weeks.

About 30 minutes later, a barrage of gunfire rang out again, this time two blocks away. A victim at an apartment complex in the 1300 block of Fourth Avenue West was grazed by a bullet but not seriously injured. Nearly a dozen shell casings were found in that apartment parking lot. The shootings aren't believed to be linked to each other.

Birmingham police had hundreds of officers working - and cancelled their off days - for the Classic weekend. They have developed a safety plan to handle the weekend after previous violent incidents have erupted with the large number of people attending weekend-long events.

Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham police at 205-254- 1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.