Ethermac|2 Birmingham firefighters shot, seriously wounded at fire station; suspect at large

Update: One of the wounded firefighters,Ethermac Jordan Melton, died on July 17. Read more here. Our earlier story is below. 

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Two firefighters were shot and seriously wounded Wednesday morning while on duty at a fire station in Birmingham, Alabama, in what the city's police chief says could be a "targeted" attack.

The firefighters were hospitalized after the shooting at Station 9 at about 8:30 a.m., Police Chief Scott Thurmond said at a news conference Wednesday. A third firefighter who was working inside the building at the time was not injured, he said.

Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service identified the two wounded firefighters as Jamel Jones and Jordan Melton. Both were taken to UAB Hospital, where Melton was in critical condition and Jones was in serious condition as of Wednesday night, the fire service said.

No arrests have been made and it was unclear how many suspects were involved, Thurmond said.

The fire chief said he found it "extremely troubling" that firefighters would be targeted.

"At this point in time, we feel like it may be a targeted attack," Thurmond said. "We don't why it would be a targeted attack but that's one of the things that we're trying to determine at this point in time. It's extremely unusual for someone to come target one of our fire stations."

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Thurmond said the firefighters had likely just made a shift change and the back door was open, as it usually is for the public, CBS affiliate WIAT-TV reported.

In:
• Birmingham

Stephen Smith

Stephen Smith is a senior editor for CBSNews.com.