A man died in a hail of gunfire early Saturday on Birmingham's busy Valley Avenue.

The shooting happened about 1:15 a.m. in the 500 block of Valley Avenue. It was the city's third homicide in three hours and the sixth in six days.

Birmingham police said the victim, a black male in his early 20s, was shot while in a vehicle. There were conflicting reports as to whether the shooter fired from another vehicle, or got out and opened fire on the victim.

It wasn't immediately clear whether the victim was the driver or the passenger, but the vehicle ended up in a parking spot at the far west end of nearby Fox Valley Apartments. He was taken to UAB Hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly before 2:30 a.m.

"Right now we're getting conflicting reports on what happened,'' said Birmingham police Sgt. Bryan Shelton. "Officers are talking to people and we're trying to piece together what happened."

The shooting happened across the street from a busy nightclub. Dozens of club-goers watched the ongoing investigation, but only a few say they had heard the gunfire. Evidence technicians marked 24 shell casings in a parking lot next to Fox Valley, and two more on Valley Avenue.

There appeared to be only one shooter, investigators said.

On The deadly shooting happened just hours after two others. Friday night, police responded about 10:30 p.m. to a report of a man lying in the alley near 28th Street and Francis Avenue Southwest. Officers found a black male in his early to mid-20s fatally shot in the roadway. Shelton said a passerby walking in the alley discovered the body.

Based on evidence at the scene, Shelton said, the victim could have been running from the suspect when he was shot.

Then, about 45 minutes later - at 11:15 p.m. - a man in his 30s was found shot in a driveway in the 5400 block of Park Avenue Southwest. Medics responded and tried to revive the man, but their efforts were unsuccessful, Police don't know what led to either of the Friday-night shootings but said they did not initially appear to be linked.

No arrests have been made in any of the slayings on what turned out to be a deadly several hours in the city.

"It's disheartening but as investigators, as officers, we have a duty and we have a job and we're going to keep doing it,'' Shelton said. "We're here to do a service and we're going to do it."

"It's a tough time for all of these families and we ask the community to keep them in their prayers,'' he said. "If they know any information, give us a call and share that information."

Saturday morning's killing brings the number of homicides in Birmingham to 51 in 2018. In all of Jefferson County, there have been 75 this year, including the 51 in Birmingham.

Among the six killed since Monday were: 30-year-old DeNorris Rishard Barnes who was fatally shot Monday while changing a tire at a gas station on Bessemer Road; Tiffany Cooper, 35, who was also shot to death Monday during an argument with her mother at the mother's home on 16th Place Southwest; and 23-year-old Silas Partman, who was killed in a Wednesday shooting in the 2300 block of Aspen Run in The Park at Callington Apartments.

Anyone with information on any of the homicides is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.