Birmingham, AL: Birmingham police find couple shot dead inside Redmont neighborhood house

Published: Sunday, March 13, 2011, 5:40 PM

Kent Faulk -- The Birmingham News
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - Birmingham police found the bodies of two people at a Redmont neighborhood house this morning.

Sgt. Otis Luke, of the Birmingham Police Department's South Precinct, said that officers were called to a house on Altamont Road at about 11 a.m. today.

The daughter of the couple inside the house had called to say she was having trouble getting in touch with her mother, Luke said. Her mother was scheduled to go on a trip, he said.

Birmingham firefighters had to force their way into the house at 3401 Altamont Road.

Luke said police found two people dead inside the house. Both people had been shot, he said.

It appeared to be a murder-suicide, but homicide investigators and the Jefferson County Coroner's have not confirmed that, Luke said.

According to records and neighbors, William Otis MacMahon, 83, and 77-year-old Lois A. MacMahon lived at the house. Luke did not identify the victims, but confirmed that it was the MacMahons' house.

Neighbors described the MacMahons as a nice couple.

"They're just the finest people," said neighbor Mike Anderson. "It's just a shame to hear that."

The MacMahons had lived in the house for at least three decades, Anderson and his wife said.

Ramie Anderson said that Mrs. MacMahon had baked them cookies and brought them over to their house between Christmas and New Years. "It's devastating to the community ... It's a tragedy," she said.