Alabama Dance Studio Mass Shooting, 4 Confirmed Dead During Birthday Party in Dadeville

 

On Saturday night, a group of teenagers had gathered at the studio to celebrate a birthday when gunfire broke out shortly after 10:30 p.m.

My heart is heavy this morning for the families and friends who are suffering and grieving this morning after the senseless tragedy our community experienced last night. Please join me in lifting up the victims, their loved ones, and the Dadeville community in prayer.

Counseling services will be available at Dadeville High School and all Tallapoosa County Schools. We appreciate the prayers of our local clergy and their churches and will be calling on you in the days ahead.

All of our resources will be available to Dadeville High School’s administrators, teachers, and student body as we help them navigate this tragic event and the road to recovery.

Following the incident, law enforcement remained tight-lipped about the shooting, the victims, or any potential suspects for over eight hours. The incident quickly gained attention on social media, with a disturbing image showing six people collapsed inside the venue being circulated. Some users pleaded for the image to be taken down.

Meanwhile, some other social media users recorded videos at a nearby hospital where families were anxiously waiting for updates on their injured loved ones.

One of the victims of the shooting was Phil Dowdell, a high school senior who was set to graduate in just a few weeks and had secured a football scholarship to Jacksonville State.

Dowdell had been celebrating his sister Alexis’ sweet 16 birthday party on Saturday night when the tragic incident occurred, resulting in his untimely death.

Annette Allen, Dowdell’s grandmother, described him as an incredibly humble and kind-hearted individual who never caused any trouble and always had a beaming smile on his face. She referred to his smile as a “million-dollar smile.” As per Allen, many guardians are right now ignorant about the whereabouts of their kids and are wildly visiting various emergency clinics looking for them. She additionally noticed that the shooting occurrence happened during Alexis' birthday festivity, expressing "they were here commending it." Allen pursued for supplications for the region and its adjoining regions.

At roughly 8:30 a.m., the Alabama Policing gave an assertion affirming that no less than four people had lost their lives in the mass shooting that happened in Dadeville.

The assertion showed that the episode occurred around 10:45 p.m. on Saturday and recognized that different people had supported wounds. In any case, no additional data in regards to the specific number of people impacted by the shooting was unveiled.

In line with the Dadeville police boss, ALEA affirmed that it will start an examination concerning the shooting episode.

Ashley Slope, an occupant of Opelika, made a trip to downtown Dadeville alongside two different ladies after catching wind of the shootings, trying to learn the wellbeing of a family companion.

She communicated profound distress for the young people who had met up to praise a birthday, shaking her head as she depicted the demolition brought about by the occurrence.

As per Slope, Dadeville, an unassuming community with a populace of somewhat more than 3,000, isn't commonly connected with the degree of brutality seen in bigger urban communities. In any case, this isn't whenever that the town first has encountered a mass firing, as a shooter injured five people during a party at the American Army Lobby on August 28, 2016. Following the new episode, the police had cordoned off a few blocks close to the crime location, including North Broadnax Road among Green and Columbus roads, as well as a piece of Cusseta Road. This strip comprises of a scope of expert administrations, a furniture store, PNC Bank, and the Tallapoosa Province Town hall, which offers different region administrations, including the probate office.

Neighborhood authorities and witnesses have detailed that police are as of now tending to a mass shooting that happened at a party studio in Dadeville, Alabama, where a young person's birthday celebration was occurring.

Restricted data is presently accessible about the occurrence, however it happened around 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, provoking officials to answer a taking shots at the Mahogany Magnum opus dance studio in Tallapoosa Province's little city of Dadeville.

As per policing present at the scene, a social occasion in midtown Dadeville turned lethal early Sunday morning, bringing about north of 20 people supporting wounds from the shooting.