Here’s What We Know—And Don’t Know—About Alabama Mass Shooting

Topline

A mass shooting at a Sweet 16 birthday party in Dadeville, Alabama, left four people between the ages of 17 and 23 dead and more than 30 others injured Saturday night, but in the days since, officials have released little information about what exactly happened and whether any suspects are known.

Investigators work at the site of a fatal shooting in downtown Dadeville, Ala., on Sunday, April 16, … [+] 2023.

AP/Jeff Amy

Key Facts

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said Monday 32 people were injured during the shooting at Mahogany’s Masterpiece dance studio, up from the 28 recorded on Sunday, though officials did not specify if all the injuries were gunshot wounds—CNN reported Sunday at least 15 teens were treated for gunshot wounds at one hospital.

After almost three days, police still haven’t specified whether they have identified or arrested any suspects, a rarity for mass shootings, and it’s unclear whether officials have determined a motive.

ALEA Sgt. Jeremy 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.

Unlike in many mass shootings when police are quick to give descriptions of exactly what happened, details of Saturday’s shooting remain murky: ALEA said the shooting happened at about 10:34 p.m., but it has not released any details about the sequence of events, saying police are still in the process of “gathering and examining information.”

LaTonya Allen, the mother of 18-year-old deceased victim Philstavious “Phil” Dowdell, told CNN she heard a rumor earlier in the evening that someone brought a gun to the party. and made an announcement through the speaker system asking: “If anyone in here has a gun, then you need to leave because we’re here to celebrate [her daughter]

Alexis’ Sweet 16.”

Keenan Cooper, the DJ at the party, corroborated Allen’s account and told local ABC affiliate WBMA-TV the event stopped briefly when Allen made her announcement, and despite people with weapons being asked to leave, no one did.

When the shooting began, Cooper took shelter under a table and helped shield five teens from the gunfire, he told WBMA-TV.

There was no high-powered rifle ammunition at the scene, but investigators did recover “numerous” shell casings used in handguns, ALEA said.

Crucial Quote

“There’s just a lot of details that are sketchy at this time,” Tallapoosa County Commission Chairman T.C. Coley told the local news publication AL.com.

Surprising Fact

Alexis Dowdell, whose birthday the party was in honor of, told the BBC she survived the shooting after her brother Phil pushed her to the ground. Dowdell said she was able to escape the venue and hide behind another building, and it wasn’t until she went back inside that she discovered her brother was shot. “The last thing I told him was to stay strong,” she told the BBC. “I don’t know if I would still be standing here today if he would never save my life,” she told CBS.

Key Background

Despite a lack of details on the shooting, the Tallapoosa County coroner has released the names of the four people who died Sunday: Philstavious Dowdell,18, Marsiah Emmanuel Collins, 19, Shaunkivia “Keke” Nicole Smith, 17, and Corbin Dahmontrey Holston, 23. Some details on the victims have emerged in the days since the shooting. Dowdell was reportedly known in town as a star football player who planned to play at Jacksonville State University, and Smith played for the high school volleyball team and planned to attend the University of Alabama. Holston went to the party to check on a younger family member and encountered the suspects, his mother Janett Heard told AL.com, describing him as a “protector.” Collins was an aspiring musician who could “light up a room” and planned to attend LSU in the fall, his father Martin Collins told AL.com.

Tangent

Dadeville, home to 3,000 residents, is a little more than 60 miles northeast of Alabama’s capital Montgomery.

Big Number

164. That’s how many mass shootings, with four or more injuries or deaths, have happened in the U.S., as of Tuesday, according to the Gun Violence Archive.