April 16 (BBC/GNA) – At least four people were killed and several injured in a mass shooting in Dadeville, a rural town located in Tallapoosa County in the US state of Alabama, on Saturday night.
The shooting occurred at the Mahogany Masterpiece Dance Studio at a 16th birthday party.
Most of the victims were teenagers.
Governor Kay Ivey, who last year signed into law a protection of the right to own guns in the state, tweeted her condolences.
Sgt Jeremy Burkett, a spokesman for the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, held a brief press conference about the incident – confirming four dead and saying the shooting happened at a birthday party – but provided few further details. He said officials will provide more information in two hours’ time.
As yet police have not confirmed what led to the shooting, or whether any suspects or persons of interest in the case have been taken into custody.
The bloodshed comes within weeks of two other high-profile mass shootings – at a Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, and a bank in Louisville, Kentucky. Eleven people died in those attacks overall.
Phil Dowdell has been named by local media as one of the victims of Saturday night’s shooting.
Phil was a senior in high school and was going to Jacksonville State University on an American football scholarship.
Pastor Ben Hayes, who serves as the chaplain for the Dadeville Police Department and for the local high school football team, said that most of the victims were teenagers.
“One of the young men that was killed was one of our star athletes and just a great guy,” he said.
“I knew many of these students. Dadeville is a small town and this is going to affect everybody in this area.”
His grandmother Annette Allen told the Montgomery Advisor that, “he was a very, very humble child. Never messed with anybody. Always had a smile on his face,”
Dowdell’s death has yet to be confirmed by officials.
Allen also told the outlet that the party torn apart by gunfire was to celebrate the 16th birthday of Dowdell’s sister, Alexis.
The Montgomery Advertiser reports that Dowdell’s mother was also shot and wounded.
Keenan Cooper, the DJ at the 16th birthday party, told reporters what he remembers from when shots rang out late on Saturday night.
He said he tried to help get guests under tables when it started, but it was too dark to see where and who the shots were coming from.
He also says the party was for reported victim Phil Dowdell’s sister, as earlier reported by the Montgomery Advertiser.
Local media in Alabama are reporting that some parents are still searching for information about their children 12 hours after the shooting took place. Some are reportedly going from hospital to hospital trying to find them.
GNA/Credit: BBC