A 77-year-old man shot while he was driving on Birmingham’s Parkway East has died.

Police early Sunday identified the victim as Stephen A. Keith Jr. He lived in Birmingham.

A 25-year-old suspect was taken into custody several hours later and remains held in the Birmingham City Jail pending formal charges.

The ordeal began just after 1:30 p.m. Saturday when Birmingham 911 sent out a lookout bulletin that an SUV was shooting at a sedan at Edwards Lake Road and Gadsden Highway.

A short time later, more calls came in updating the location of the two vehicles, to include the shooter, said Sgt. LaQuitta Wade.

A Birmingham sergeant in the area then heard shooting. Those vehicles were in the 9300 block of Parkway East.

A crash then happened in that location, which was in front of Arby’s. When first responders arrived on the scene of the wreck, they found Keith injured in a small car that had crashed into a large pickup truck.

Parkway East Shooting Dec. 30, 2023
An elderly man was critically injured Dec. 30, 2023, when he was caught in crossfire on Parkway East in Birmingham.Carol Robinson

Keith was rushed to UAB Hospital where doctors determined he had been shot. He was pronounced dead at the hospital late Saturday night.

The driver of the truck was also hospitalized in serious condition. That man was reportedly on his way home from work when the crash happened.

Those close to him say he sustained a broken back.

As police were investigating that incident, they were notified of another person shot. That call came in at 3:26 p.m. in the 1300 block of High Point Terrace.

He was taken to the hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening.

Wade said the same man was suspected in both shootings.

Shortly after 5 p.m., investigators located the shooting suspect in Tom Bradford Park, also on the city’s east side.

Officers descended on the park where the suspect was taken into custody before 6:30 p.m.

Police initially said Keith was caught in crossfire, but later determined he had been targeted. A motive has not been disclosed.

The victim is Birmingham’s 135th homicide this year. Of those, one included an officer-involved shooting by an outside law enforcement agency and nine others have been ruled justified.