Topline
Police arrested a fourth suspect Thursday in connection with a mass shooting at a birthday party in Dadeville, Alabama, that left four people dead and 32 injured over the weekend, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said, after public concern grew for days over the little information that was available about the shooting.
Investigators work the crime scene following a shooting on April 16, 2023 in Dadeville, Alabama.
Key Facts
Johnny Letron Brown, 20, was arrested Thursday and charged with four counts of reckless murder, ALEA said in a Facebook post.
The first two suspects—Ty Reik McCullough, 17, and Travis McCullough, 16—were arrested and charged with four counts of reckless murder on Tuesday, ALEA Sgt. Jeremy Burkett announced at a press conference Wednesday.
Later on Wednesday, police announced the arrest of 20-year-old Wilson LaMar Hill Jr., who faces the same charges.
Police have yet to offer any details about a motive for the shooting or the suspects’ connection to the birthday party.
Ty Reik McCullough, Travis McCullough and Brown were from Tuskegee, about 30 miles from Dadeville, and Hill lives 20 miles away in Auburn.
Key Background
Saturday’s shooting happened just after 10:30 p.m. at Mahogany’s Masterpiece dance studio in Dadeville, where Alexis Dowdell was having her Sweet 16 birthday party. Some 32 people were injured and four were killed: Philstavious “Phil” Dowdell, 18, Marsiah Emmanuel Collins, 19, Shaunkivia “Keke” Nicole Smith, 17, and Corbin Dahmontrey Holston, 23, the Tallapoosa County coroner said. Besides the names of the deceased, officials released little to no information in the days and hours after the shooting. ALEA made its first statement about the shooting ten hours after it happened, leaving many wondering about the sequence of events and whether suspects were still at large. On Monday, ALEA said investigators found no high-powered rifle ammunition at the scene, but they did recover “numerous” shell casings used in handguns. At a press conference Wednesday, a local district attorney said neither he nor the police would discuss the details of the case. Burkett said information from the community was helpful in making the arrests, but cautioned the investigation was still in its early stages with a “tremendous amount of work left to be done.”
Tangent
People gathered at the dance studio on Saturday for Alexis Dowdell’s Sweet 16 birthday party. While Alexis Dowdell survived the shooting, her brother Phil Dowdell did not. In the moments after the shooting began, Phil Dowdell pushed his sister to the ground, saving her life, Alexis Dowdell told the BBC. Initially, she said she didn’t realize her brother was shot, but when she returned to the venue after the gunfire subsided, she found him: “The last thing I told him was to stay strong,” she told the BBC. The Dowdells’ mother, LaTonya Allen, was also shot during the birthday party but survived. Earlier in the evening, when Allen heard a rumor that someone brought a gun to the party, she stopped the celebration and made an announcement asking anyone with a gun to leave the party, she recounted to CNN earlier this week. The shooting started shortly thereafter.
Big Number
165. That’s how many mass shootings, defined as four or more injuries or deaths, have happened in the U.S. so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
Further Reading
3 Suspects Finally Arrested In Alabama Mass Shooting—Including 2 Teens (Forbes)
Dadeville Shooting Leaves 4 Dead, 32 Injured: Here’s What We Know—And Don’t Know—About Alabama Mass Shooting (Forbes)
Alabama Shooting: 4 Killed, 28 Injured At Birthday Party In Dadeville (Forbes)
Over 200 Killed In U.S. Mass Shootings So Far This Year—A Decade-Long High (Forbes)
One In Five Americans Has Lost Family To Gun Violence As Shootings Tick Up (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/anafaguy/2023/04/20/fourth-suspect-arrested-after-deadly-alabama-birthday-shooting/