AL - Mass shooting at teen’s birthday party, 20 + shot, 4 + dead, Dadeville, 14 Apr 2023

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This is just so heartbreaking. My son turns sixteen this year. I don't ever want to be afraid for him or his friends living past his birthday. My heart goes out to the teens and the parents who have been impacted by this terrible incident.
 
The shooting happened at a birthday party in downtown Dadeville, Alabama, about 50 miles northeast of Montogomery, at around 10:30 p.m., Sgt. Jeremy Burkett of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said. There was no initial confirmation about what led to the shooting, and Burkett did not identify a suspect but said the person is no longer a threat to the community.

“There were four lives tragically lost in this incident and there’s been a multitude of injuries,” Burkett said during a news conference Sunday.
BBM
What does that mean? Shooter is in custody? Dead?
 
The shooting happened at a birthday party in downtown Dadeville, Alabama, about 50 miles northeast of Montogomery, at around 10:30 p.m., Sgt. Jeremy Burkett of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said. There was no initial confirmation about what led to the shooting, and Burkett did not identify a suspect but said the person is no longer a threat to the community.

“There were four lives tragically lost in this incident and there’s been a multitude of injuries,” Burkett said during a news conference Sunday.
BBM
What does that mean? Shooter is in custody? Dead?

No-one is saying. In a town that size, you would think that pretty much everyone knows who the killer is.
Word usually whips around like wildfire in small towns.

The pastor has spoken, the DJ has spoken, the police have spoken.
I wonder if they are keeping quiet (at the moment) to go easier on the killer's family.
 

I notice the article says "suspects" (plural).

An AL.com reporter, who asked at the Dadeville jail if anyone had been arrested in connection with the shooting, was told no.
and
Dadeville Mayor Jimmy Frank Goodman Sr. was outside the courthouse earlier today, which is a block from where the shooting occurred.

Goodman has been mayor since 2020 and said he has lived in the city for 53 years.

He was asked the level of concern in the community since police have not said if anyone is in custody.

”The community probably wants to make sure there’s no one around here that’s going to keep doing this,” Goodman said.

“They want to find out whether it was someone from another town or someone who was passing through. Their minds want to be settled that it wasn’t someone from here, or even from the next town.”

???
 
Maybe the killer is injured from ricochet. Identifying them may risk further injury or death to him/her and cause all sorts of legal issues.
 
This is about 30 minutes from me. Shooters could have left via several routes to Birmingham, Montgomery, opelika, Columbus, ga etc. Very irritated that they haven't released more information on the suspect. I did see a crime stoppers reward which makes me more curious. Praying for all those who are dealing with the unimaginable today. My gut instinct is not gang related because these were 16 year olds who were involved in extracurricular activities and their friends and families. I am not impressed with the so called press conferences. Maybe the shooter is a minor in a hospital and they can't say anything due to privacy. I haven't been able to find any hint of a suspect though and that is bizarre.
 

Taniya Cox attended the vigil in a hospital gown with her right arm in a cast. She said she was at the party Saturday night and was shot twice in her right arm.

“The mother said whoever had guns had to get out and they didn’t get out and five minutes later the shooting started,” she said. “I ran in front of a bullet and got shot. I didn’t know what was going on I just saw blood coming out of my arm.”
and

Taniya said she went to the back of the room and there were “other shooters.”
 
This feels different from the random mass shootings we usually hear about. Knowing the brother and mom of the birthday girl were shot makes me think it was targeted somehow. Not necessarily gang related but I don’t think it was random either. I suspect the shooter(s) and victims were well known to each other. JMO.
 
Alabama Birthday Party Shooting Leaves 4 Dead and 28 Injured

Nine of the teenagers were transferred to a different hospital to receive a higher level of care and five of those nine were in critical condition.

Mr. Dowdell’s sister was a cheerleader who cheered for every sport at the high school and many of the athletes she had supported came out to celebrate.

KeKe Nicole Smith, 18, a volleyball player and team manager for the Dadeville High School track team, was also killed..Mr. Taylor, who coached the track team Ms. Smith managed, described her as “full of life.”

Guns are the leading killer of children in the United States, making it an extreme outlier compared with similarly large and wealthy nations. In 2020, gun violence surpassed car accidents and disease to become the leading killer of children.

“Bottom line, we’ve got to pray our way out of this and give it time,” Mr. Taylor said. “That’s the only way out.”
 
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Well, it’s easy to see our childhoods with rose-colored glasses, but people were out and about committing atrocities then too. Thirty years from now my kids will be marveling at how terrible the world currently is and how great their childhood was, I bet.
MOO
I remember open racism and sexism in the good ole days of my childhood, and beating children with belts and “switches” accepted as discipline. Domestic violence jokes.
My grandfather believed TV would be the downfall of civilization. He only allowed church shows, news, and baseball on his TV, my grandmother would sneak watch soap operas. As a small child, I was the lookout at the window to tell her when he was coming.
 
Neighboring high school rivalry that got far out of hand, perhaps? JMO
I can't think of a rivalry that extreme in that area. I know there was some teen shootings in opelika a few months ago and am wondering if this is related. It sounds like maybe the shooter (s) weren't strangers at the party though
 

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