Mobile police are asking the public to help identify a man caught on surveillance video moments before he and an accomplice attempted to carjack a stranger and opened fire on the victim’s vehicle early Wednesday morning. The footage, released by the Mobile Police Department as part of its appeal, shows one of the suspects walking through the doors of a convenience store just before the confrontation unfolded in the parking lot outside. Detectives are hoping someone in the community recognizes the man and comes forward with a name.
According to the Mobile Police Department, the incident began around 12:40 a.m. outside the Circle K convenience store at 1395 University Boulevard. Surveillance footage released by police shows one of the two suspects entering the store’s front doors shortly before the attempted carjacking took place in the parking lot. Police spokesman Officer Terence Perkins said only one of the two men went inside the store, while the other waited outside. After the first suspect emerged, the pair approached a driver in the parking lot and demanded his vehicle at gunpoint.
A holdup that turned into a shootout
Both men were armed with handguns during the confrontation, according to police. The driver refused to comply and get out of his vehicle despite the threats, Perkins said. As the man drove away, the two suspects opened fire, striking the vehicle multiple times. Remarkably, police reported no injuries from the shooting, though the encounter easily could have turned deadly given the number of shots fired at close range.
The decision the driver made in that parking lot is the kind that officers warn about. Police departments across the Gulf Coast, including Mobile’s, have repeatedly urged drivers confronted by armed carjackers to consider surrendering the vehicle rather than risking gunfire, because no car is worth a life. In this case the driver’s decision to drive off did not end in injury, but the barrage of rounds that struck his vehicle illustrated how quickly such encounters escalate once a victim resists.
Investigators have not released a description of the second suspect, focusing their public appeal on the man captured more clearly on the store’s surveillance cameras. The images released by the department show the first suspect in the moments before the attempted carjacking, and detectives believe that even a partial identification from the public — a name, a former coworker, a familiar face from the neighborhood — could move the case forward.
How to report a tip
Anyone who recognizes the individual in the released images, or who has other information about the attempted carjacking, is asked to contact the Mobile Police Department at 251-208-7211 or the department’s non-emergency line at 251-208-7000. Tips that seem minor to the caller can matter to investigators, particularly in surveillance-based cases where establishing a suspect’s movements before and after an incident helps detectives build a timeline. As is standard in cases like this, investigators have not released the identity of the victim, who was not injured.
Police have not announced any arrests in connection with the case. The investigation remains active, and the Mobile Police Department continues to encourage residents with any information, even seemingly minor details, to come forward as detectives work to identify and locate both suspects.
The University Boulevard corridor
The University Boulevard corridor is a heavily traveled commercial stretch near several apartment complexes and retail centers, and convenience stores along the route have periodically been the scene of robberies and other late-night crimes. The road runs through a busy part of west Mobile lined with businesses that stay open around the clock, and the combination of overnight hours, cash registers and parking lots makes such locations recurring targets for armed robbers. The Circle K at 1395 University Boulevard sits amid that activity, with customers coming and going at all hours of the night.
For residents of the surrounding neighborhoods, incidents like Wednesday’s attempted carjacking serve as a reminder of the risks that come with late-night errands. Police typically advise people leaving stores after midnight to stay aware of their surroundings, keep keys in hand, and return to their vehicles quickly rather than lingering in parking lots. Observing who is loitering nearby and reporting suspicious activity before it becomes a crime is a pattern officers credit with preventing robberies in commercial corridors.
Surveillance cameras like the ones that captured this suspect have become central to how Mobile police investigate such cases. Stores along major corridors record license plates, faces and timelines that detectives can cross-reference, and departments increasingly release still images to the public within days of an incident, turning thousands of viewers into an extension of the investigation.
Carjackings remain a persistent problem
Carjackings in particular have remained a persistent concern for Mobile police in recent years, with officers repeatedly urging drivers to stay alert in parking lots, especially late at night, and to consider surrendering a vehicle rather than risking gunfire if confronted by an armed suspect. A car can be replaced, officers stress, and insurance often covers the loss, while the moments spent resisting an armed suspect carry risks that no property is worth.
Across Alabama, auto theft statistics have long shown that a significant share of stolen vehicles were taken while the keys were in the ignition or the owner was present, and carjacking represents the most violent end of that spectrum. Local departments respond with a mix of patrols in commercial areas, public awareness campaigns and, increasingly, requests for the public’s help in identifying suspects captured on camera. Cases like this one — where suspects are recorded entering a business shortly before the crime — show why police place such emphasis on the store footage.
The attempted carjacking also highlights the stakes for shift workers, students and late-night customers who move through the University Boulevard area when most of the city is asleep. Officers advise anyone who witnesses suspicious activity in parking lots to call the non-emergency line while the situation is developing, rather than waiting until after a crime occurs, since an early call can put a patrol car nearby in time to intervene.
What happens next in the investigation
With no arrests announced, the case now rests on the public appeal. Detectives will continue canvassing the area around the Circle K for additional cameras — from neighboring businesses, apartment complexes and passing drivers’ dashcams — and will compare the released images against any matches generated internally. If the first suspect is identified, investigators expect the second man’s identity to follow, since the two acted together throughout the encounter.
Anyone with information is urged to act on it promptly, and tipsters can remain anonymous when calling in what they know. Police stress that even fragments of information — a nickname, a place the suspect is known to frequent, the location of a vehicle connected to the pair — can give investigators the thread they need to close the case, and the department has made clear that identifying these two men remains a priority as the investigation continues.
The Mobile Police Department, which patrols Alabama’s fourth-largest city, handles thousands of property and violent crime reports each year across precincts that cover everything from downtown’s entertainment districts to the residential neighborhoods of west Mobile. Incidents like Wednesday’s attempted carjacking typically draw attention from robbery investigators who specialize in street-level armed offenses, and surveillance-based identification has become one of their most productive tools as camera coverage across the city has expanded.
Public appeals like this one also depend on timing. The longer a suspect remains unidentified, the harder witnesses become to find and the colder the trail grows, which is why departments release images quickly and ask for the public’s help while memories are fresh. In this case the released footage captured the suspect both inside the store and in the moments immediately before the attack, giving viewers several chances to recognize him.
A reminder for drivers across the city
Beyond the appeal for tips, the case offers a practical lesson for drivers throughout Mobile. Officers recommend parking in well-lit areas near store entrances, locking doors immediately after entering the vehicle, and keeping phones out of sight until safely on the road. Drivers who see a confrontation beginning nearby are advised not to intervene but to call 911 and provide a description of the people and vehicles involved.
For now, the two suspects from Wednesday morning’s attempted carjacking remain unidentified, and the victim’s vehicle remains the only physical record of how close the encounter came to tragedy. The Mobile Police Department’s appeal continues, and investigators are counting on someone in the community to supply the name that turns surveillance images into an arrest.
Community cooperation has repeatedly proven decisive in Mobile robbery investigations, and detectives often close cases because a resident, coworker or family member recognized a suspect in released footage. The department’s non-emergency line, 251-208-7000, is staffed around the clock for exactly that purpose, and callers who wish to remain anonymous can still pass along what they know. As the search for these two suspects continues, police are again reminding residents that identifying information shared early in an investigation is far more valuable than details remembered weeks later.