Alabama law enforcement officials on Sunday urged people to provide information about the shooting that killed four people and injured 28 others at a teenager’s birthday party.
Among the dead was a high school student who planned to play college football and was celebrating his sister’s 16th birthday. The shooting broke out Saturday night at a dance studio in downtown Dadeville.
During two press conferences on Sunday, Sgt. Jeremy Burkett of Alabama Law Enforcement did not ask questions. He did not say whether a suspect was in custody or whether investigators were aware of any motives. He did not provide the names of those killed.
“We have to get information from the community,” Burkett said at a press conference Sunday night.
Philstavious “Phil” Dowdell, a Dadeville High School senior who had committed to attend Jacksonville State University, was celebrating at Alexis’s sister’s party before he was fatally shot, his grandmother Annette His Allen told The Montgomery Advertiser.
“He was a very, very humble kid. Never messed with anyone. He always had a smile on his face,” Allen told the newspaper, calling it his “million dollar smile.”
Dowdell’s mother was among those injured in the shooting.
“Everybody’s grieving,” Allen said.
Burkett said the shooting happened around 10:30 p.m. Saturday. “Four people were killed in this incident,” he said.
The shooting rocked the city of 3,200 residents, about 92 kilometers northeast of Montgomery, Alabama.
Pastor Jason Whetstone, who leads the Christian Faith Association, said the niece of one of his church members was shot in the leg and underwent surgery on Sunday.
“All of our hearts are hurting right now. We’re just trying to come together to find strength and comfort,” Whetstone said before an interfaith vigil in the parking lot of First Church. Baptists.
“We are a loving community,” he said. “We are working together in every way to comfort each of these children, the teachers, the entire community.”
Dadeville’s compact downtown district is centered on a court square with one- and two-story brick buildings. The town’s busiest business district is a few blocks north of the square, near the busy four-lane motorway that runs between Birmingham and Auburn. Dadeville is near Lake Martin, a popular entertainment district.
Investigators on Sunday continued to document access to the Mahogany Masterpiece dance studio, indicated by a banner hanging outside the one-story brick building just off the square. Less than a block away, the American and Alabama flags were lowered a half-foot outside Tallapoosa County Courthouse.
Dadeville Mayor Frank Goodman said he was sleeping in his bed when a council member called him shortly before 11 p.m. Saturday. He said he went to Lake Martin Community Hospital in Dadeville, where some of the people who were shot were taken.
“It was chaotic,” Goodman said. “There were people running around. They were crying and screaming. Police cars were everywhere, ambulances were everywhere. People were trying to find their loved ones. It was a scene that we saw. Nothing like this has ever happened in my life.” city first.”
Pastor Ben Hayes, who served as chaplain for the Dadeville Police Department and for the local high school football team, said most of the victims were teenagers. Dowdell is just weeks away from graduating and facing a bright future, Hayes told The Associated Press.
“He’s a strong opponent on the pitch,” said Hayes. “You don’t want to try to stop him or be hindered by him. But when he comes out on the pitch he is one of the most beautiful young men you will ever meet, greatly respected and respected by his colleagues. .”
Hayes said worried families flocked to the local hospital on Saturday night to search for their children’s condition. He said serious crime is rare in Dadeville and the small city is “sad, hurt, shocked.”
Jacksonville State football coach Rich Rodriguez said in a statement Sunday: “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Philstavious Dowdell and the other victims of last night’s senseless tragedy. is a wonderful young man with a bright future.”
Dowdell also recently won a medal at the high school track and field competition at Troy University.
Superintendent Raymond C. Porter said there will be counseling for students at Tallapoosa County schools on Monday.
“This morning, I am heartbroken with the people of Dadeville and my fellow Alabamans. Violent crime has NO place in our state and we are being closely updated by law enforcement as details,” Alabama Governor Kay Ivey said on social media.
The White House said President Joe Biden was briefed on the shooting, adding that it was closely monitoring the situation and was in contact with local and law enforcement officials to ask for support.
“What will our country be like when children can’t attend a birthday party without fear? When parents have to worry every time their children walk out the door of school, to the cinema or to the office tablets?” Biden said in a statement Sunday. “Guns are the leading killer of children in America, and the number is increasing, not decreasing. This is outrageous and unacceptable.”
Biden called on Congress to “require safe weapon storage, require background checks on all gun sales, remove gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability, and ban offensive weapons and high-capacity magazines.”
The mayor said Dowdell was “a wonderful young man.” He also said he was worried about those injured and traumatized by the shooting.
“We’re praying for them,” Goodman said. “We pray to God, if that’s his will, get them back to their parents safely, so they can heal.”
Goodman said guns and violence are not a regular phenomenon in Dadeville. He said trying to control guns would be as futile as trying to control illegal drugs.
Dadeville High School has 485 students in grades 6-12 by 2022, according to Alabama state data. It serves Dadeville and surrounding areas of Tallapoosa County. Like the rest of Dadeville, it is hidden from view of the busy highway that runs from Birmingham to Auburn.
Michael Taylor is an assistant coach for the football, basketball, and track and field teams at Dadeville High School. He said he met Dowdell when Dowdell was 9 years old and that Taylor coached him in youth football. He said the team had been invited to Atlanta to play in the stadium used by the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons.
“He did some great things there, and he’s never stopped doing them since,” Taylor said. “He’s the number 1 athlete in the school.”
Taylor said he last heard from Dowdell on Friday, when Dowdell was looking for videos of his athletic achievements. Taylor said he drove to the scene of the shooting Saturday night from his home in nearby Camp Hill.
“For God’s sake, I can’t get close,” Taylor said. “So when I found out what was going on, I really, I had to leave because it was going to take all night.”
Taylor said he returned Sunday to see Dowdle’s body being carried out of the dance studio. He said he wasn’t sure what he would say to the other athletes on Monday.
“The first thing we have to do is we have to pray to get out of this,” Taylor said Sunday. “There’s no other way. And I can tell you, they were really close like a family in high school.”
This is at least the second time in recent years that more people have been shot in Dadeville. Five people were injured in July 2016 in a shooting at an American Legion hall, and one man was later charged with five counts of attempted murder, news agencies reported.
