Three people are dead after a shooting erupted in Selma early Saturday morning, striking at a site with a grim history just days before the city was set to formally swear in its first Black female police chief. Two victims died at the scene, and a third died later at the hospital, according to police.
Selma Police Chief Ettice Brickus said officers responded to the shooting scene around 2:30 a.m. at 405 Highland Avenue, as reported by WSFA. No suspect has been taken into custody, and authorities said there is no active threat to the public. Brickus said everyone involved in the incident knew each other, and Selma police are still investigating the circumstances of the shooting.
The address carries heavy weight in Selma. It is the location of American Deli, where a mass shooting on June 23, 2024, left 26-year-old Jamarcus Posey dead and four others wounded after more than 100 gunshots were fired in the parking lot, according to Black Belt News Network. That earlier bloodshed had prompted council members to debate requiring heightened private security at the 24-hour venue.
A Historic Swearing-In Ceremony Looms
The timing lands squarely during a pivotal moment for Selma's police department. Brickus was scheduled to be formally sworn into office on October 8, 2026, at the Carl C. Morgan Convention Center, meaning the triple fatal shooting occurred just five days before her official ceremony, per the same outlet.
Brickus made history on September 3, 2026, when the Selma City Council voted 5–3 to appoint her police chief, selecting her from four final candidates and making her the first Black woman to lead the Selma Police Department, the report notes. Before coming to Selma, she served as deputy chief and chief of staff for the Montgomery Police Department and is a retired deputy chief from the Baltimore Police Department. The council set her annual salary at $120,000 during a September 8 meeting.
Mayor Johnny Moss III said he is deeply saddened by the loss of three lives and offered prayers to their families, according to WSFA. He said the shooting's circumstances remain under investigation by Selma police, and he called on the community to work together to resolve conflicts peacefully and protect one another. Moss took office on November 3, 2025, after winning a September 2025 runoff election, having previously served as president of the Selma City School Board.
A City Already Grappling With Violence
The shooting lands against a backdrop of persistently high violent crime in Selma. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting data compiled for 2025 shows the city recorded a violent crime rate of 720.8 per 100,000 residents, earning an F safety grade and placing it well above the national average of roughly 359 violent crimes per 100,000, according to SpotCrime.
Dallas County, which includes Selma, held the highest rate of gun violence among all 67 Alabama counties in 2019, a trend researchers at the International Association of Chiefs of Police linked in part to a local poverty rate exceeding 35 percent.
State gun laws have also shifted in recent years. Under Alabama's permitless carry law, HB 272, which took effect January 1, 2023, individuals aged 19 and older who can legally possess a firearm may carry a concealed handgun in public without a state permit, background check, or safety training, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, though private property owners still retain the right to prohibit weapons on their premises. In 2025, Alabama separately made possession of Glock switches and other illegal automatic conversion devices a Class C felony, part of a broader public safety initiative.
Selma police are asking anyone with information about the shooting to come forward as the investigation continues.
