Just before 8 p.m. on May 17, 2023, police responded to gunfire near the 700 block of Springville Road at the Springville Landing Apartments in Birmingham’s Huffman area. Officers found 20-year-old Patrick Bennett suffering from gunshot wounds and he was pronounced dead at the scene while detectives worked to reconstruct the moments leading up to the shooting.

Investigators say the violence began when a resident arrived home from work and was confronted in an apparent carjacking. The resident was shot during the confrontation but managed to return fire; authorities believe Bennett was among those involved in the attempted takeover of the vehicle. The wounded resident was taken to UAB Hospital with life-threatening injuries, and the stolen car was tracked away from the complex to 9th Avenue West in the Smithfield area, where officers saw a man run from the vehicle and searched the neighborhood, at times using a K-9 unit.

Months later the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office reviewed the case and reclassified Bennett’s death as a justifiable death, finding the carjacking victim’s return gunfire legally justified. Reports say no one had been arrested in connection with Bennett’s death when that reclassification was made public.

If anyone has information about the carjacking or the people seen near the stolen car that night, please share what is known.