MOBILE, Alabama – Mobile police have identified the man killed in a Thanksgiving Day shooting on the city’s east side as investigators continue to search for the gunman responsible for the deadly holiday encounter. Officers responded to a report of two people shot on the 3900 block of Wood Drive around 7 p.m. on Thanksgiving, arriving to find one man mortally wounded and a second suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
According to a Mobile Police Department spokesman, the younger victim, a 23-year-old man, died from his injuries while being transported to a local hospital. Paramedics and officers worked to move him to emergency care, but he could not be saved. A second man, 25 years old, was also struck multiple times in the same incident. He was treated at a local hospital and later released, police said, making him one of the few people who can speak directly to what happened on Wood Drive that evening.
Investigators believe a third man opened fire on the two victims before fleeing the scene on foot. Detectives spent the holiday gathering witness statements and physical evidence from the residential street, where shell casings and other markers of the shooting remained visible into the following day. The case has been classified as a homicide, and the suspect is wanted on charges of murder and attempted murder in connection with the attack.
Suspect Description Released
Police described the suspect as a Black man in his late 20s, standing roughly 6 feet tall and weighing about 275 pounds, with brown hair. Investigators have not said whether they believe the suspect and victims knew one another, and they have not announced a motive in the shooting. The description was distributed through the department’s public channels in hopes that someone in east Mobile or the surrounding area might recognize the man or recall seeing him fleeing the neighborhood around the time of the shooting.
Mobile police asked anyone with information about the shooting or the suspect’s whereabouts to contact investigators directly. Detectives emphasized that even fragments of information – a vehicle seen leaving the block, a description passed along secondhand, a social media post – can help move an active homicide investigation forward. Tipsters who wish to remain anonymous can also pass information through the Mobile Area Crime Stoppers program, which allows citizens to submit leads without revealing their identities and, in some cases, to collect rewards if the information leads to an arrest.
Grief Along Wood Drive
The day after the shooting, neighbors and family members gathered near a blood-stained patch of grass along Wood Drive marking where the fatal shooting occurred. Small groups stood in the cool morning air, some embracing, others staring at the spot where the 23-year-old fell. Those present at the scene largely declined to speak publicly about what had happened, reflecting the raw grief still surrounding the incident just a day after it unfolded.
The reluctance to talk is a familiar dynamic in neighborhoods touched by sudden violence. Residents in areas like the Wood Drive corridor often describe a tension between wanting justice for victims and fearing retaliation or unwanted attention for speaking out. That silence can complicate homicide investigations, which frequently depend on witnesses coming forward in the crucial first days after a shooting while memories remain fresh and physical evidence is still being processed.
The Wood Drive area sits in the eastern section of Mobile, a part of the city characterized by older residential streets, neighborhood schools and easy access to commercial corridors along Government Boulevard and Airport Boulevard. The shooting on a holiday evening, when many families were gathered for Thanksgiving meals, underscored how quickly violence can interrupt ordinary life in any part of the city.
A Violent Holiday Stretch
The Thanksgiving Day killing added to a string of violent incidents Mobile police investigated around the holiday period, prompting renewed calls from community members for witnesses to come forward with any information that could help identify the shooter. Holiday weekends have historically presented challenges for law enforcement across Mobile, as larger family gatherings, travel and increased time spent outdoors can coincide with disputes that escalate.
Mobile police officials have repeatedly stressed in recent years that clearing homicide cases requires cooperation between investigators and the neighborhoods where shootings occur. The department maintains specialized units that handle violent crime investigations, and detectives typically work a case continuously in its earliest stages, canvassing door to door, reviewing any available surveillance video and re-interviewing witnesses as leads develop.
Community advocates in Mobile have also organized in recent years around the toll of gun violence, holding vigils and pushing for greater investment in intervention programs aimed at young men most at risk of becoming shooters or victims. Residents who gathered on Wood Drive the day after the Thanksgiving shooting echoed a common refrain: someone in the neighborhood knows who pulled the trigger, and that person needs to come forward.
Case Remains Open
As of the initial identification of the victim, no arrests had been announced in the case. Police continued to urge residents in the Wood Drive area and beyond to remain vigilant and report any relevant information, noting that even small details could prove significant in an active homicide investigation. Investigators have not released the name of the 23-year-old victim publicly pending notification procedures, and the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office will review the evidence once a suspect is in custody before formally pursuing the murder and attempted murder charges.
The case remained open as investigators worked to track down the suspect and determine what led to the confrontation that left one young man dead and another wounded. Warrants for murder and attempted murder mean that when the suspect is located, he will face some of the most serious charges in the Alabama criminal code. A murder conviction in Alabama can carry a sentence of decades to life in prison, and attempted murder carries substantial penalties of its own.
For the family of the 23-year-old victim, the days after Thanksgiving brought an unimaginable loss, with a holiday centered on gratitude transformed into a vigil along a quiet east Mobile street. For the 25-year-old who survived, the shooting marks the beginning of a long recovery, both physical and emotional. And for the neighborhood, the message from police and community members alike has been consistent: the fastest path to justice runs through the people who saw something.
Anyone with information about the Thanksgiving Day shooting on Wood Drive is urged to contact the Mobile Police Department directly. Anonymous tips can be submitted through Mobile Area Crime Stoppers. Investigators say that whether a tip seems major or minor, passing it along could be the step that helps bring the suspected gunman off the street and gives the victim’s family the answers they are waiting for.
The Thanksgiving shooting also renewed familiar conversations about how holiday periods affect public safety staffing and response across Mobile. With families traveling and normal routines suspended, police typically increase patrols in busy commercial corridors while neighborhood streets can grow quieter – a combination residents say makes incidents like the Wood Drive shooting feel more jarring. Community leaders have encouraged churches, civic groups and neighborhood associations to keep lines of communication open with officers assigned to their districts, particularly during the stretch between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.
What Comes Next in the Investigation
Homicide investigations in Mobile typically unfold in stages. In the first 48 to 72 hours, detectives concentrate on canvassing the immediate area, collecting surveillance footage from homes and businesses, and processing the scene for forensic evidence. In cases like the Wood Drive shooting, where the suspected shooter fled and was not immediately identified by name, investigators lean heavily on witness accounts and community tips to build a probable cause case that can support an arrest warrant and eventual prosecution.
The Mobile Police Department is one of the largest law enforcement agencies in Alabama, patrolling a city of roughly 185,000 residents spread across a broad footprint from downtown and the Port City waterfront out to expansive east-side neighborhoods. Its homicide unit works closely with the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office, and cases built on strong witness cooperation have historically had far better outcomes than those where investigators hit a wall of silence.
Anyone who may have been in the area of the 3900 block of Wood Drive around 7 p.m. on Thanksgiving is being asked to think back on what they saw or heard that evening – unfamiliar vehicles, raised voices, footsteps, anything out of the ordinary. Police note that witnesses sometimes assume a detail is too trivial to matter, but in practice those fragments often corroborate other accounts and help investigators establish a timeline.
The search for the suspected gunman continues. Police said the identification of the victim and the release of the suspect’s description mark progress in the case, but the investigation will not be considered complete until an arrest is made and the case moves into the court system. Residents with information are encouraged not to wait: the sooner tips reach detectives, the faster those leads can be pursued while evidence and memories are still fresh.