Topline
Two teens were arrested and charged in the Dadeville, Alabama, Sweet 16 mass shooting that left four people dead and 32 injured over the weekend, police announced Wednesday, after growing concern over how long the investigation was taking.
An Alabama state trooper checks his phone as investigators work at the site of a fatal shooting in … [+]
Key Facts
Ty Reik McCullough, 17, and Travis McCullough, 16, were arrested and charged with four counts of reckless murder on Tuesday, Sgt. Jeremy Burkett of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said Wednesday at a press conference.
Burkett said information from the community was helpful in the investigation, and said the investigation was still in the early stages with a “tremendous amount of work left to be done.”
Both suspects will be charged as adults, Michael Segrest, the Tallapoosa County District Attorney, said, adding neither he nor the police would discuss the details of the case.
Police did not offer any details about a motive for the shooting or the suspects’ connection to the birthday party.
Key Background
The shooting happened just after 10:30 p.m. Saturday at Mahogany’s Masterpiece dance studio in Dadeville where Alexis Dowdell was having her Sweet 16 birthday party. While police are often quick to provide information after many mass shootings, that wasn’t the case in Dadeville. It was ten hours before ALEA made a statement about the shooting, providing limited details. Burkett initially told reporters Sunday that the suspect was no longer a threat to the community, but walked back those remarks Monday and said he meant there was no threat at that time, in that area. On Monday ALEA said no high-powered rifle ammunition was found at the scene, but investigators did recover “numerous” shell casings used in handguns. Authorities initially said Sunday 28 people were injured, on Monday that number rose to 32, according to ALEA. As of Tuesday, nine of the 15 patients injured by gunshots and initially taken to Dadeville’s Lake Martin Community Hospital were still being treated at other facilities, four of those were in stable condition and five were in critical condition. Despite a lack of details on the shooting, the Tallapoosa County coroner has released the names of the four people who died in the shooting: Philstavious Dowdell,18, Marsiah Emmanuel Collins, 19, Shaunkivia “Keke” Nicole Smith, 17, and Corbin Dahmontrey Holston, 23.
Big Number
165. That’s how many mass shootings, defined as four or more injuries or deaths, have happened in the U.S. as of Wednesday, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
Further Reading
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/2023/04/19/2-teen-suspects-finally-arrested-in-alabama-mass-shooting/