In the United States this year, at least 160 mass shootings have occurred. It includes the recent shooting at the 16th birthday party in Alabama, which killed four people.
As the reports, a Sweet 16th birthday party turned into carnage, leaving four dead & fifteen people injured. The Alabama Law enforcement agency said that the shootings took place at around 10.34 pm in downtown Dadeville on April 15.
Sergeant Jeremy Burkett, a spokesman for the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA), told reporters on April 16, “There were four lives tragically lost in this incident, and there’s been a multitude of injuries”. He added, “We’re going to continue to work in a very methodical way to go through this scene, to look at the facts, and ensure that justice is brought to bear for the families”. The party was taking place inside the Mahogany Masterpiece Dance Studio, which had been converted from an old bank and was located in Dadeville, a town of roughly 3,200 people, about a half-block from the city hall. On April 16, the area was marked off with yellow crime-scene tape.
According to police, the football player Philstavious Dowdell was celebrating his sister Alexis’s 16th birthday when the shooting occurred, killing him. Dowdell was a stellar football player, said the team’s chaplain.
Keenan Cooper, the DJ at the party, said he didn’t hear a fight or disturbance before the shooting occurred. He said, “It’s really sad to see all the kids that were shot and the ones that are deceased, and seeing all those bodies at the front door, all those kids are probably going to be traumatized”.
The victims are currently being treated for gunshot wounds; some are in critical condition.
Hospital spokesperson Heidi Smith said six of the 15 teens taken to Dadeville’s Lake Martin Community Hospital had been treated and released. The remaining nine have been moved to different hospitals for treatment. Five teenagers were in critical condition at the time of the previous check, while four others were in stable condition.
According to the spokesman, Susan Foy, Russell Medical Centre in adjacent Alexander City “received multiple patients” following the Dadeville birthday party shooting. Foy said, “They were either treated and released or transferred to other facilities”. She said she could not verify the number of patients received or their ages.
Hours after the shooting, no information regarding who carried out the shooting or whether a suspect has been detained has been made public. Regarding the victims, nothing has been disclosed either. Sergeant Burkett said, “We can’t share anything further at this time”.
In a statement posted on social media, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said, “This morning, I grieve with the people of Dadeville and my fellow Alabamians. Violent crime has NO place in our state, and we are staying closely updated by law enforcement as details emerge”. U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama called the shooting “heartbreaking”. United States president said, “What has our nation come to when children cannot attend a birthday party without fear?”.
Following separate outbreaks of lethal gun violence in Tennessee and Kentucky that caused local authorities to push for stricter gun control laws, the tragedy in Alabama was the third high-profile mass shooting that occurred in recent weeks.
The shootings in Dadeville happened five days after a bank employee in Louisville, Kentucky, shot five of his coworkers dead and injured nine more at his workplace. On March 27, a former student at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, killed three 9-year-olds and three staff members.
