Birmingham police chief announces plans to retire, a month after city’s 3rd mass shooting this year

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Birmingham’s police chief Scott Thurmond is retiring next month. The decision comes two years into his tenure as the historic city’s top cop. Surging homicides and multiple mass shootings have propelled Birmingham into the national spotlight. A gunman killed four people outside of a nightclub in the bustling Five Points neighborhood last month. Multiple elected officials called for Thurmond to step down following the shooting. Thurmond did not give a specific reason for his departure but did say that his decision had nothing to do with recent events or criticism of the department.