A late-night dispute at a Birmingham lounge ended in a fatal shooting on December 10, 2023. Thirty-two-year-old Quantez Banks, a Black man from Center Point, was at Mel’s Lounge on Richard Arrington Junior Boulevard North when officers from the Birmingham Police Department’s South Precinct responded about 2:45 a.m. to a report of a person shot. Officers found Banks unresponsive with an apparent gunshot wound; Birmingham Fire and Rescue personnel pronounced him deceased.

Investigators say a verbal argument between Banks and another adult male preceded the shooting. The other man reportedly fired at Banks and tried to flee, but patrol officers quickly took him into custody nearby. That individual, an employee of the lounge, was interviewed by homicide detectives and booked into the Birmingham City Jail under a 48-hour felony extension for murder as the investigation continued.

If anyone was at Mel’s Lounge that night or has information about the altercation, please share what you know.