At least four people aged 17 to 23 were killed at the party in the small town of Dadeville on Saturday. Twenty-eight people were injured, some seriously, officials said. Police have not said whether a suspect is in custody. The town’s local priest told the BBC the gunman was still at large and asked him to surrender. Flags stood at half-mast outside Dadeville High School on Monday for the four victims who were killed on Sunday, identified as 18-year-old PhilStavius ”Phil” Dowell, 17-year-old Keke Nicole Smith, 19-year-old Emmanuel’ Sia Collins and 23-year-old Corbin Dahmontre Holston, according to local media. Mr Dowdell was attending his sister Alexis’ 16th birthday at a dance studio in the city centre.
He was about to graduate from the local high school to go to Jacksonville State University on an American football scholarship. His mother is also reported to have been injured in the incident. His grandmother, Annette Allen, told the Montgomery Advertiser newspaper: “He was a very polite kid. Never messed with anybody. He always had a smile on his face.”Roger McDonald, his sports coach at the local high school, described him as an outstanding young man. He wasn’t just a great athlete, he was a great kid,” he told the paper.
Who Was Phil Dowdell?
A friend of hers who played with her on the high school football team told the BBC: “Phil was a wonderful friend to me. God has an angel.” Relatives and friends of Ms Smith said she was a once promising 17-year-old athlete, who was about to graduate from the city’s high school. Ben Hayes, the senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Dadeville and also the pastor of the school’s football team, knew many of the students at the school Team. On Monday, a spokeswoman for the local Lake Martin Community Hospital said the facility had treated 15 teens, all of whom had been shot. He said six of the injured were treated and released. Nine were transferred to other facilities – five of whom remain in critical condition. A vigil was held following the shooting and was attended by hundreds of community members, including Tania Cox, who was one of the people injured in the shooting. Ms Cox attended the vigil in a hospital gown with her right arm in a cast. , according to the Montgomery Advertiser.
He said he was shot twice in the hand at the party on Saturday.Ms Cox said, “[the birthday girl’s] mother said whoever had the guns had to get out and they didn’t and five minutes later the shooting started.” about the end or police investigation but has urged the public to come forward with information. Casey Davis, a deputy superintendent at the local board of education, told the BBC that clergy and grief counsellors would be available to the community. Asked about the lack of information from police so far, Mr Davis replied: “Let investigations go on.”Other residents who spoke to the BBC described the mood in Dadeville as sombre and said members of the community were coming together to support each other in the aftermath of the shooting. The attack takes the US to a grim milestone of more than 160 mass shootings to date. year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines incidents in which four or more people are shot. For more information stay tuned with us.
