Several People Shot Leaving Uniontown ‘Footwash’ Festival Wednesday
Several people were injured in a shooting near the annual Footwash festival outside Uniontown Wednesday night, local officials have confirmed to the Thread.
Michael Jackson, the district attorney in several West Alabama counties including Perry County, said four or five people were shot in what police believe was a disagreement between out-of-towners.
Jackson said it is his understanding that two men traveled to West Alabama from Indianapolis for the Footwash, an annual festival that draws thousands of revelers to a multi-day party in the woods between Perry and Hale Counties. The event has been held each September for more than 130 years.
Jackson said one of the men from Indianapolis was annoyed with the other and threatened to drive back to Indiana without him. The men got in separate cars, possibly with other people, and Jackson said the two vehicles nearly collided.
"That's when the shooting started," Jackson said.
The district attorney said four or five people were hurt in the shooting and transported to area hospitals, but added that all have since been discharged after treatment.
Jackson said the region's Fourth Judicial Circuit Drug Task Force and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency's State Bureau of Investigation are looking into the case and no arrests have been made as of 10 a.m. Thursday.
EDITOR'S NOTE: A Uniontown resident contacted the Thread to clarify that the Footwash festival ended Sunday, and while the altercation that led to the shooting may have started there and the people involved may have been in town for the festival, the shooting occurred days after the event ended.
Stay connected to the Tuscaloosa Thread for updates on this shooting if and when they become available.