SLAYINGS SHOCK RESIDENTS

Site Of Attack Called A Longtime Source Of Trouble

The telephone of Tuxedo Neighborhood Association President Magnolia G. Cook
was "ringing off the hook" Thursday evening, she said.

Residents were stunned and angry over the slayings of three Birmingham
police officers in a neighborhood they had vowed to clean up.

"(People) are shocked and mad. It didn't have to happen, there was no
need for it," said Cook. "Our policemen are so nice."

And the address where the men were killed, 1619 18th St., Ensley, is a
longtime trouble spot that neighbors suspect is a drug house, Cook and
other residents said.

"It's been reported to us too much. There's so much traffic, going in
and out, clogging up the road," Cook said.

Although the slayings were in Tuxedo, residents in nearby Ensley also
had long complained about the apartment building, most recently
Wednesday night, said Earlene W. Hunter, president of the nearby
Ensley Neighborhood. Residents meeting that night complained about
people from outside the neighborhood selling drugs there.

"People come here to do their dirty work and give the neighborhood a
bad name. It stings the whole neighborhood," Cook said.