A DJ at a birthday party that night ended with four dead, prompting a large crowd of kids to come out of the party, according to a police sergeant
As a room full of Sweet 16 attendees in Dadeville, Alabama, moved to the sounds of a DJ Saturday night, their party was abruptly ended by an eruption of gunfire that injured dozens and left four partygoers dead, at least two of whom were local high school seniors on the brink of graduation.
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said they have not released any information about a suspect or a possible reason for the shooting.
Among those killed was the birthday girl’s brother, Philstavious Dowdell, a talented football player beloved by the community, according to Ben Hayes, chaplain of Dadeville High School’s football team, and Keenan Cooper, who was DJing at the party when the gunfire broke out.
Just weeks before the shooting, assistant football coach Michael Taylor said Dowdell told him, “If anything ever happened to me, even when I go to college, take care of my two sisters.”
Some of the partygoers wounded in the shooting are still in critical condition, as of Sunday afternoon. Jeremy J. Burkett is with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.
Hayes, who is also a church pastor and chaplain for the Dadeville Police Department, spent Saturday night at a hospital where several victims were taken and consoled students and families who had congregated there.
It is a very close, tight knit community. Everybody knows who they are. That is the reason this is so difficult. He said, “I knew these kids personally, most people did.”
Representing students as they grieve should be the community’s top priority according to a member of the city council.
Their physical, mental and emotional health are my top priorities right now, according to Johnson. We need to make sure they are okay.
“We have been getting continuous updates throughout the day and we are absolutely trying to confirm and understand everyone that was in the venue there,” he said.
The sergeant encouraged anyone with information about the incident to inform law enforcement. Burkett stressed that we need you to share it.
The Dadeville Shooting: The Second Case of a Shooting, and Why Do We Care About It? Joe Biden, KeKe Smith, and Michael Jackson
Less than two hours after reports of a shooting at a park in Louisville, Kentucky, where two people are dead and four others are wounded, there was a separate incident in Dadeville. After this weekend’s violence, there have been more than 160 mass shootings so far in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive, marking more mass shootings than there have been days in the year.
President Joe Biden responded to the Dadeville and Louisville shootings in a statement Sunday, saying he is praying for the victims’ families and reiterating his call for Congress to reach an agreement of gun control legislation.
Children cannot attend a birthday party without fear and what has our nation come to? When parents have to worry about their kids going to the movies, the park, or the door to school? Biden said.
Taylor explained that his college-aged son was very close to the humble, humble person known as Dowdell and that they often trained together.
Jackson identified the second victim, KeKe Smith, as her cousin and described the student as always smiling. Jackson said she learned of her cousin’s death from Smith’s mother.
Smith was a student athletics manager for Dadeville High School’s track team and helped out the basketball team, assistant football, track and basketball coach Michael Taylor said. She had to stop running track after tearing her knee.
The senseless tragedy last night left a student injured and in critical condition in a Dadeville, Alabama, neighborhood theorem
Six of the injured were treated and released and the remaining nine were transferred to other facilities, hospital spokesperson Heidi Smith said Sunday. Four of the teens were stable while five were in critical condition.
They were either treated or released. She did not confirm how many patients were received or their ages.
One of those injured was a student in the town of Pike Road, about 60 miles southwest of Dadeville, and on the outskirts of Montgomery, the statement said. It is unclear what injuries the student suffered or what their status is.
“Many of our students know the victims of this tragedy. One of the students was present, and we continue to pray for their full recovery, the statement said.
The shooting has devastated the city of about 3,000 people where “everybody knows everybody,” Ben Hayes, chaplain of Dadeville High School’s football team, told CNN.
Amy Jackson said she was Keke Smith’s cousin and she was looking forward to going to The University of Alabama.
The teenager had secured a scholarship to play football at Alabama’s Jacksonville State University, according to Cooper, who described Dowdell as “kind of like the hometown hero.”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Philstavious Dowdell and the other victims of the senseless tragedy last night, ” Rodriguez said Sunday.