The FBI is now offering a $10,000 reward and running a digital tip line for a neighborhood block party shooting in Tuscaloosa, Alabama — another case of federal law enforcement planting its flag in what has traditionally been local police territory.

Keyontae Jones, 23, was taken into custody and charged with seven counts of first-degree assault after gunfire erupted late Saturday at the "Shacktown Reunion," a neighborhood gathering in west Tuscaloosa. Investigators say Jones was present and "engaged in gunfire," according to Captain Jack Kennedy, commander of the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit. Seven people were injured, including a 12-year-old and a 17-year-old who remained hospitalized in stable condition as of Monday.

An eighth assault count will be dismissed after investigators determined one person who claimed to have been shot was not actually present. Authorities have opened a separate investigation into the false report.

Kennedy said investigators believe the shooting may have involved gang activity — one group encountering or seeking out another before opening fire in a crowded public space. The gathering itself does not appear to have been the target.

Here is where the federal footprint expands. FBI Birmingham Assistant Special Agent in Charge DeAnn Castillo said the FBI joined the investigation "at the request of" the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit, which remains the lead agency. Castillo announced the $10,000 reward and a previously established digital media tip line for witnesses to submit photos, videos, and social media content. "Sometimes we face hesitancy in the communities," Castillo said. "People fear retaliation. But without their support, we're never going to clean up these streets."

Notably, local police were not absent. Kennedy said a Tuscaloosa Police officer was in the immediate area when the shooting began and responded within seconds. The investigation already included TPD's Cyber Unit and SWAT team, U.S. Marshals task forces, and the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office Metro Area Crime Center before the FBI publicly inserted itself with a reward and press conference.

The same bureau that has targeted parents at school board meetings and monitored social media posts is now handling street-level gang crime in Tuscaloosa — while a federal court specifically designed to remove alien terrorists sat unused for nearly 30 years. WJLA reported that the Alien Terrorist Removal Court, created by Congress in 1996, was used for the first time ever Friday to deport Afghan national Nazira Haji Zada, who conceded she qualified as an "alien terrorist" after her son and son-in-law plotted an ISIS-inspired mass shooting on Election Day 2024. Former acting ICE Director Jonathan Fahey called it "surprising" the court had never been used. Previous administrations preferred to prosecute in civilian courts first. The terror court can consider classified evidence without revealing sources and methods — a power that raises due process concerns, though Zada's concession means those constitutional questions remain unanswered.

The contrast is sharp. A specialized court built to remove terrorists from American soil gathers dust for three decades while the FBI expands its presence into local block party investigations. Priorities in Washington remain what they have always been — disconnected from the streets they claim to protect.

The Tuscaloosa investigation remains ongoing. Authorities are still identifying and interviewing witnesses and people of interest from the hundreds who attended the gathering.