SHEFFIELD — A Florence man was shot in the back while riding in a car that was leaving a Sheffield night club early Saturday morning.

Sheffield police detective Joe Haynes said the shooting occurred in the parking lot of Club 256 on South Atlanta Street at 1:25 a.m.

Haynes said the man who was shot was one of six in the car leaving the club parking lot.

Reports indicate the victim is a 21-year-old from Florence.

Haynes said the man was shot once in the back with what appeared to be a large-caliber pistol.

“He is in Huntsville Hospital in the intensive care unit,” Haynes said. “From what I understand he is borderline critical.”

No arrests have been made, but Haynes said one man is being the Sheffield City Jail for questioning.

“There were a lot of people outside the club in the parking lot when the shooting happened, and we’ve been talking to as many as we can to see what actually happened and try to determine who is responsible,” Haynes said. “At this point, we are holding one person as a person of interest for questioning, but there are no charges at this point.”

Police said it appears the Florence man and his friends had just left the club and had gotten in a car when the shooting occurred.

“As far as we can determine this did not happen from anything that started inside the club,” Haynes said. “It may have been some kind of ongoing problem that escalated to this. Those are some of the questions we’re trying to answer now.”

Anyone with any information is asked to call police at 256-383-1771.

or Crime Stoppers at 256-386-8685.

Tom Smith can be reached at 256-740-5757 or tom.smith@TimesDaily.com.