At least four people were killed and 28 others were injured in a shooting during a late-night "Sweet 16" birthday party at a dance studio in Dadeville, Alabama, state police and local news media reported on Sunday (16 April).
The incident occurred in east-central Alabama, approximately 100 kilometres (60 miles) northeast of the state capital of Montgomery, according to authorities. There were no official reports regarding the cause of gun violence.
Authorities stated that the shooting began shortly after 10.30 p.m. CT on Saturday, but during two Sunday news conferences, they refused to address questions or provide additional information.
Officials stated that there was no longer a threat to the community but did not specify whether the suspect was slain or apprehended.
Jeremy Burkett, a Alabama Law Enforcement Agency sergeant, stated, "We will continue to work in a very methodical manner to investigate the crime scene, examine the facts, and ensure that justice is served for the families."
A high school football star was among those attending his sister's "Sweet 16" birthday party when a gunman opened fire, as reported by the Montgomery Advertiser.
The newspaper quoted the victim's grandmother as identifying the slain adolescent as Phil Dowdell, who was about to graduate in a few weeks and had a football scholarship to attend Jacksonville State University.
Reuters could not independently corroborate the information or identify the remaining three victims.
The celebration was held in the Mahogany Masterpiece Dance Studio, a converted old bank building approximately half a block from the city hall in Dadeville, a town with about 3,200 residents. On Sunday, the site was cordoned off with yellow crime-scene tape.
Hundreds of community members held an outdoor prayer vigil early Sunday evening in a parking lot a few blocks from the shooting site.
'What has our nation come to?'
Following separate outbreaks of deadly gun violence in Tennessee and Kentucky, local authorities in Alabama have called for stricter gun control measures.
According to the Montgomery Advertiser, Dadeville was shaken by at least one prior mass shooting in August 2016, when a gunman wounded five people during a gathering at an American Legion hall.
What has become of our nation if children cannot attend birthday parties without fear? Sunday, Vice President Joe Biden issued a statement.
Biden described the increase in gun violence in the United States as "outrageous and intolerable," and he urged the U.S. Congress to pass legislation to make firearms manufacturers more liable for gun violence, ban assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, and mandate the safe storage of firearms and background checks for gun sales.
Monday, the superintendent of schools for Tallapoosa County, Raymond Porter, announced that counselling would be provided in area schools. He asked local clergy to assist families in coping with the situation.
Porter stated, "We will make every effort to comfort these children and will not lose sight of the fact that they are the most affected by this situation."
At the annual conference of the National Rifle Association (NRA), the nation's gun lobby, Republicans vying for the party's nomination for president in 2024 and other prominent party members they were attempted to portray themselves as unwavering supporters of unrestricted gun rights over the weekend in Indiana.
The murders in Dadeville occurred five days after a bank employee in Louisville, Kentucky, killed five coworkers and injured nine others at his workplace. A former pupil murdered three 9-year-old students and three faculty members at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, on March 27.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, more than 163 mass shootings have occurred in 2023, the most at this stage in the year since at least 2016. The nonprofit organization defines a mass shooting as one in which four or more people, excluding the shooter, are injured or slain.
