Pizza delivery driver killed in Birmingham, AL: 'One of the most heart-breaking homicides'
Local outlets have identified the deceased pizza delivery driver as 51-year-old Derek Marcus Burpo.
A pizza delivery driver in Birmingham, Alabama, was fatally shot while making a stop on New Year's night, police said.
Birmingham police received a call around 9 p.m. on Tuesday after receiving reports of shots being fired on Roebuck Drive, the department said in a Facebook post. A short time later, a second call came in about a person who had been shot, police said.
When officers responded to the scene, they found an unresponsive man on a private roadway suffering from a gunshot wound, according to the department. Birmingham Fire and Rescue personnel arrived and pronounced the man deceased, police said.
Paste BN contacted Birmingham police on Thursday but has not received a response.
Police: No one is in custody for shooting the pizza delivery driver
Police confirmed that their preliminary investigation determined that the deceased man was in the process of making a delivery when he was shot and killed. No one is in custody for this shooting, according to the department.
WVTM and WBRC reported that the deceased pizza delivery driver was Derek Marcus Burpo, 51, of Birmingham. The TV station also said he was robbed.
“This is one of the most heart-breaking homicides that we have witnessed in our city,” Birmingham officer Truman Fitzgerald said, per WBRC. “You have a man that’s out on the very first day of 2025 making a living, trying to support his family and someone committed the worst robbery that you can commit. Robbed a family of their loved one.”
Police said they are using their "technological resources" to assist them in tracking down the shooter.
Jonathan Limehouse covers breaking and trending news for Paste BN. Reach him at JLimehouse@gannett.com.