Murder Book: 03. Scene and First Response

Five-page Birmingham Police Department investigative compilation concerning the September 15, 1963 fatal shooting of Johnnie Brown Robinson. The principal document is a City of Birmingham Police Department Offense (Assault) Report identifying Robinson as the 16-year-old victim, Jack Parker as the involved Birmingham police officer, the location as the alley near 26th Street North, and Robinson’s injury as a shotgun wound. The report records his arrival at Hillman Hospital at approximately 4:55 p.m., lists police witnesses, and identifies Martha Robinson as his mother.

The compilation also contains anatomical diagrams marking apparent shotgun-pellet injuries, including an entrance wound in the back and injuries to the left arm, together with handwritten witness information. The final page is Robinson’s Alabama certificate of death, which identifies him as Johnnie Brown Robinson, age 16, records his cause of death as a gunshot wound of the chest, and states that he was struck by shotgun pellets.

Seventeen-page compilation of maps, diagrams, aerial imagery, parcel maps, and roadway photographs relating to the location of Johnnie Robinson’s fatal shooting near 8th Avenue North and 26th Street North in Birmingham. The materials include hand-drawn scene diagrams depicting the alley, service station, surrounding buildings, police-car position, and Robinson’s reported location or direction of movement; historical Birmingham maps and land-use maps; detailed property and parcel maps; and modern aerial and street-level imagery of the area.

The compilation also includes contemporary Google Maps imagery identifying 808 26th Street North and later aerial views documenting substantial changes to the surrounding street network and built environment. The final image depicts 26th Street North during roadway construction and is annotated as dating from the 1980s. Collectively, these materials provide geographic and spatial context for reconstructing the scene and evaluating changes to the location over time.

Cross-Reference Note: See 09. Digital and Documentary Evidence for The Birmingham News article, “Three Negro Men Hurt in Altercation With Streetcar Man,” published November 21, 1949. The article contains contemporaneous reporting concerning the location and circumstances of the shooting and the initial police investigation.

Photograph depicting the interior of the streetcar associated with the Sammie Lee Williams shooting investigation. The image documents the passenger area and interior configuration of the vehicle and was preserved as part of the investigative case file.

Official incident report