Omari Sharad Pollnitz, a 38-year-old Black man from Birmingham, Alabama, died on April 28, 2019, after gunfire erupted at a west Birmingham car detailing business. Officers responding to reports of shots near the 2800 block of Bessemer Road found Pollnitz unresponsive at the doorway of the shop; he had been struck by at least one gunshot and was pronounced dead at the scene. Homicide detectives worked the scene around the business on the corner near Bessemer Road and 30th Street in the Ensley/Fairview area, reconstructing who had been where and what led to the shooting.

Friends said Pollnitz used a wheelchair because of an earlier gunshot injury, a detail noted by those who followed the case. Investigators identified and interviewed the other person involved in the encounter, then presented the evidence to the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors ruled the shooting justified, and no criminal charges or arrests were announced in connection with Pollnitz’s death.

If anyone was at or near the detail shop that evening and saw or heard what happened, please share what can help clarify the events that led to his death.