Anthony Tolbert, a 30-year-old man, was killed on the night of March 23, 2019, in Birmingham’s Smithfield community, where a Saturday evening gathering near a mobile car-wash setup turned suddenly violent. Police were dispatched at about 8:40 p.m. to the area around 1st Street North and Rev. Abraham Woods Jr. Boulevard after reports that someone had been shot.
When officers arrived, they found Tolbert unresponsive, and he was declared dead.
Investigators said Tolbert had been standing in the car-wash area with several other people when a shooter opened fire into the group. The gunfire scattered everyone in an instant; people ran, and the scene emptied as fast as it had filled. In the confusion, Tolbert tried to get away—described as running across the street—before collapsing. He was later found in an alley, where the fatal wound left no chance for rescue.
The response that night unfolded across more than one location. Police acknowledged two investigation scenes: one that appeared centered around a vehicle, and another where Tolbert was believed to have been found after he fell. Detectives treated the shooting as a homicide from the start, working to reconstruct the moments before the shot and identify who had been present, who fled, and what might have triggered the attack.
As the initial reports circulated, authorities had not announced any arrests. Detectives indicated that no suspect was in custody, and no names were released as persons of interest. Public updates from that period framed the case as an active investigation, with police asking anyone who knew what happened—or who saw who fired the shot—to contact Birmingham authorities so the fragments of that night could be pieced into a clear account and, ultimately, a chargeable case.
