Cornelius C. Blake was 42 and from Center Point, Alabama, when he was killed on November 19, 2021, after gunfire during a confrontation inside a home. Jefferson County deputies were called that Friday evening to multiple reports of people shot in the 2300 block of 5th Street Northwest and arrived around 7:55 p.m. They found one person dead at the house and another man wounded by gunfire.

A third shooting victim drove himself to Center Point Fire Station 5 on Chalkville Road and was later transported to UAB Hospital. Investigators say the violence began as a verbal argument that turned physical and then escalated into gunfire, leaving two focal locations for detectives to sort out— the house where the fatal shots were fired and the fire station where a wounded man sought help.

If anyone was in the 2300 block of 5th Street Northwest or at Center Point Fire Station 5 on the evening of November 19, 2021, or has information about this confrontation, please come forward.