Residents of Deadville, Alabama embrace during a vigil the day after the shooting during a teen's birthday party. Credit: Reuters
President Joe Biden has been briefed on a weekend shooting at a teenager's birthday party in Alabama that left four people dead as police requested more information from the community in Deadville on what happened.< /p>
Police have not said if the suspect in the shooting was in custody or if there was a motive for the Saturday night dance studio killings.
In addition to the four killed, 28 others were injured in the incident. shooting.
The White House said it is closely monitoring the situation and has reached out to local authorities and law enforcement to offer support.
“What has our nation come to when children cannot live without afraid to go to a birthday party? When do parents have to worry every time their kids leave the house for school, the movie theater, or the park?” Biden made the announcement in a statement on Sunday.
“Guns are the number one killer of children in America, and their numbers are on the rise, not down. This is outrageous and unacceptable.»
Mr. Biden called on Congress to «require secure storage of firearms, require background checks on all gun sales, remove arms manufacturers' immunity from liability, and ban assault weapons and precision-guided weapons.» Magazine capacity''.
News of the 10:30 p.m. shooting on Saturday rocked a city of 3,200 people about 57 miles northeast of Montgomery, Alabama.
During two press conferences Sunday, Sergeant Jeremy Burkett of Alabama Law Enforcement Agency took no questions. He did not say if the suspect was in custody or if investigators were aware of any motive. He did not name the dead. «We need input from the community,» he said.
The images show crime scene tape around the Mahogany Masterpiece Dance Studio and surrounding buildings. Photo: The Alexander City Outlook
Pastor Ben Hayes, who serves as chaplain for the Dadeville Police Department and the local high school football team, said most of the victims were teenagers because the shooting happened at a party for a 16-year-old.
< p>“One of the young people who was killed was one of our star athletes and just a great guy. So I knew many of these students. Dudeville is a small town and it will affect everyone in the area,” Hayes said.
Among those killed was Filstavius “Phil” Dowdell, a Dudeville high school student who went to Jacksonville State University. . He celebrated with his sister Alexis' before he was shot, his grandmother Annette Allen told the Montgomery Advertiser.
“He was a very, very modest child. Never quarreled with anyone. He always had a smile on his face,” Ms. Allen told the newspaper, calling it “a million-dollar smile.”
Mr. Dowdell's mother was among those injured in the shooting. “Everyone is grieving,” Allen said.
On Sunday, Antojuan Woody talks to reporters about the death of Phil Dowdell, his best friend and fellow footballer from Dadeville Credit High School :AP
Kay Ivey, the governor of Alabama, said in a Twitter post Sunday morning that law enforcement officials are «thoroughly briefing» her as details become available:
This morning, I mourn with the people of Dadeville and my brethren in Alabama. Violent crime is NOT a place in our state, and law enforcement keeps us updated as details become available.
— Governor Kay Ivey (@GovernorKayIvey) April 16, 2023
Investigators continued to walk in and out of the Mahogany Masterpiece dance studio on Sunday, as indicated by a banner hanging outside a one-story brick building near the square. At least five bullet holes were visible in the front windows of the studio. Less than a block from the Tallapous County Courthouse, the American and Alabama flags were half-hoisted.
Deadville Mayor Frank Goodman said he was asleep in bed when a council member called him shortly before 11 p.m. Saturday. He said he went to Lake Martin Community Hospital in Dadeville, where some of the executioners were taken.
“It was chaos,” said Mr. Goodman. “People were running around. They were crying and screaming. There were police cars everywhere, there were ambulances everywhere. People tried to find out about their loved ones. It was a scene, our city had never seen anything like it before.»
A bullet hole is visible in the glass transom above the door of the Mahogany Masterpiece dance studio in Dadeville. Credit: AP
The shooting comes weeks after two high-profile mass shootings in nearby Tennessee and Kentucky, prompting local leaders last week to call for tighter gun control measures.
A bank employee shot and killed five colleagues and injured nine others at his workplace in Louisville, Kentucky on Monday.
On March 27, three nine-year-olds and three employees were killed at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee. former student.
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