At least four people were killed, including an upcoming football star named Phil Dowdell, in an Alabama community after a mass shooting at a 16-year-old birthday party.
Authorities also say that 28 people were also injured in the incident that occurred in Dadeville, about an hour northeast of Montgomery. According to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, the shooting happened in the downtown area around 10:30 p.m. on Saturday.
The chaplain for the local police department and the local high school football team said most of the victims were teenagers.
Police have not said whether a suspect is in custody, also no motive for the shooting has been known.
The flags outside Dadeville High School flew at half mast for the four victims killed. They have been identified as 18-year-old Philstavious “Phil” Dowdell, 17-year-old Keke Nicole Smith, 19-year-old Emmanuel ‘Siah’ Collins, and 23-year-old Corbin Dahmontrey Holston.
Mr. Dowdell was attending his sister Alexis’ 16th birthday at a dance studio. His mother was also reported to have been injured in the attack.
It is unclear if the Alabama birthday party shooting was targeted due to Phil who was the wide receiver in the high school football team.
“Everybody loved Phil. He always had a smile on his face. He always spoke to everyone. He was the ideal kid that you want to coach. He wasn’t just a great athlete. He was a great kid,” his sports coach at the local high school, Roger McDonald, said of him.
“Phil to me was an amazing friend. God’s got an angel,” another friend said.
According to Ben Hayes, senior pastor at the First Baptist Church in Dadeville and also chaplain at the school football team, there were about 50 people at the party, when “someone from outside the community” came in and began shooting. He urged the perpetrator to turn himself in as his community needed closure.
On Monday, a spokesperson for the local Lake Martin Community Hospital said the facility had treated 15 teens, all of whom had gunshot wounds, and that six of the injured had been treated and released. Nine were transferred to other facilities – five of whom were still in critical condition.
The crime rate and mass shooting in the United States have continued to climb at an alarming rate. According to the Gun Violence Archive, the U.S. now has over 160 mass shootings so far this year – 2023.
