18-Year-Old Charged in Saturday Double Shooting in West Tuscaloosa

An 18-year-old has been identified and arrested after he allegedly opened fire with a handgun and injured a juvenile and an adult male in west Tuscaloosa last Saturday.

As the Thread previously reported, police were called to the 3100 block of 21st Street around 9:30 Saturday night on reports of a shooting.

They found a 14-year-old boy and a 45-year-old man had both been shot. The juvenile was struck in the foot and suffered relatively minor injuries, but court documents filed Friday say the man was badly hurt in the shooting. A bullet struck his left arm and traveled through his left side, damaged a rib and a lung and came to rest close to his spinal cord.

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The Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit took over the case and interviewed witnesses who said before the shooting started, the 14-year-old victim and his friends were in some kind of verbal altercation with a then-unidentified young man outside a residence on 21st Street.

Police believe that person was 18-year-old Cameron Tyson Chandler, who allegedly yelled a challenge at the 14-year-old, pulled out a stolen handgun and opened fire.

The juvenile victim and his friends ran further down 21st Street, and as Chandler reportedly fired a volley of several shots in their direction, the 14-year-old was hit by a bullet that struck the bottom of his foot.

Investigators say the 45-year-old victim walked to the front of a home on 21st Street when he heard the commotion, and Chandler allegedly opened fire a second time, striking the older man.

In court documents filed Friday, police said they developed Chandler as a suspect earlier this week and interviewed him Thursday. The 19-year-old suspect allegedly confessed to the shooting and led police to the gun he used to carry it out - a stolen 9mm that Chandler reportedly said he bought from someone else last month.

He was arrested and charged with one count of attempted murder, one count of first-degree assault and one count of second-degree receiving of stolen property his possession of the Smith & Wesson used in the shooting.

Chandler remained in the Tuscaloosa County Jail Friday afternoon.