Alabama shooting: Four dead at Dadville’s 16th birthday party

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By Jessica Parker and James Gregory BBC News, Alabama, London Apr 16, 2023

Updated 13 minutes ago

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Law enforcement officers at the scene of a shooting in Dadville, Alabama

At least four people were killed in a mass shooting at a 16th birthday party in the US state of Alabama.

Twenty-eight people were injured, some seriously, after the shooting at the Mahogany Masterpiece Dance Studio in Dadeville on Saturday.

High school student Phil Dowdle, a star athlete, was mentioned by local media as one of the victims.

President Joe Biden renewed his calls for stricter gun laws after the incident.

“What has our nation come to when children cannot attend a birthday party without fear?” Biden asked, in a statement released by the White House on Sunday.

This shooting takes the United States to the grim milestone of more than 160 mass shootings — in which four or more people have been shot — so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

With a population of about 3,200, Dadeville is a small, rural town that is not used to scenes of violence of this magnitude.

What is striking now, and unusual, is how little we know about a possible suspect.

Besides, no details have emerged about how the shooting ended, or whether the suspect is dead or is in custody.

Sergeant Jeremy Burkett of the state law enforcement agency said the investigation would be a “long and complex process”.

“We’re going to work in a methodical way to go through this landscape, look at the facts and make sure that justice is done for the families,” he said late Sunday.

He said the injuries ranged from “very critical” to “minor”.

It is likely that most of the victims were teenagers. Some parents were still searching for information about their children 12 hours after the shooting.

Among those known to have been killed was Phil Dowdle, who was named by his grandmother in the local media.

He was a high school senior who was going to Jacksonville State University on an American football scholarship.

The Rev. Ben Hayes, who serves as chaplain to the Dadville Police Department and to the local high school football team, said: “One of the guys that was killed was one of our star athletes and he was just an amazing guy.

“I knew a lot of these students. Dadeville is a small town and this will affect everyone in this area.”

Image source, Getty Images

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Firefighters at the site of a shooting in Dadville

In a local car park where the vigil was being held, the teens could be seen shaking and visibly crying from the shock of what happened last night.

Many hugs and tears are shared as they try to comfort each other.

One of the women at the vigil, Shondra, told the BBC her cousin was at a birthday party last night. “They were free, and they were celebrating life,” she said.

“You never think that this will happen in your area.”

Kenan Cooper, the DJ at the dance studio Christmas party, told reporters that he tried to help guests under the tables when he started, but it was too dark to see where the footage was coming from and who.

He said the party was for Phil Doodle’s sister, as previously reported by local outlet Montgomery Address.

The area around the dance studio is still cordoned off.

When the town woke up to the news Sunday, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said, “This morning, I feel sad for the people of Dadeville and the people of Alabama.

“Violent crime has no place in our state, and we are kept updated by law enforcement as details emerge,” the governor added in a statement on Twitter.

Alabama is a state known for protecting the right of citizens to own guns, and the Republican governor’s message of condolences was met with criticism on social media by those advocating gun law reform.

Ivey is a staunch supporter of Second Amendment rights — the right to keep and bear arms — and last year signed legislation ending a requirement for a permit to carry a concealed handgun in public.

Her candidacy for gubernatorial election last year was approved by the National Rifle Association.

The incident occurred in Tallapoosa County, eastern Alabama, following a shooting that same day in a park in Louisville, Kentucky, that left two people dead and four injured.

In his statement, Biden said the nation was “again grieving” and called the increase in shootings “outrageous and unacceptable.”

He said the American people want lawmakers to work on “common sense gun safety reforms.”

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