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

[imstilla.grandma]

What is striking right now, and unusual, is how little we know about a possible suspect.

Next to no details have emerged about how the shooting was brought to an end, or whether a suspect has themselves died or is in custody.

One woman at the vigil, Shondra, told the BBC her cousin was at the birthday party last night. "They were being free, they were celebrating a life," she said.

"You never think it's going to happen in your area."

Keenan Cooper, the DJ at the birthday party in the dance studio, told reporters he tried to help get guests under tables when it started, but it was too dark to see where and who the shots were coming from.

Alabama shooting: Four dead at Dadeville 16th birthday party

The shooting at a dance studio in the small town of Dadeville leaves 28 people injured.

www.bbc.com

*eta:
The DJ says the room was packed with young people and that the lights were not on. When the shooting started, several people took cover under his table.

"It was probably about four or five shooters that I heard but it was dark so you really can’t pinpoint anything," Cooper said. bbm

Dadeville community shaken after shooting at Sweet 16 birthday party

Four people killed at birthday party in Dadeville, 28 others injured.

www.wvtm13.com

“We recognize that in this time of need, it is important to support those on the ground directly addressing the needs of the community and the families affected by this needless loss of life,” the release stated. “Through this fundraiser, the CFEA seeks to send love and compassion to the Dadeville community.”

Community Foundation of East Alabama sets up relief fund after Dadeville shooting

The Community Foundation of East Alabama has established a relief fund after a shooting in Dadeville late Saturday night left four dead and 28 injured.

www.cbs42.com

*Four or five shooters?

 

[Snoopster]

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 agree. I hear so often how wonderful "the old days" were. Those were the days when you kept quiet about domestic violence and sexual assault, because they were 'family matters' or 'not appropriate to talk about'. The good old days weren't necessarily good. They just didn't talk about stuff.

Having said that, I also agree with someone else who mentioned the 'internet' as a problem. Those who felt/feel like outcasts had a place to be 'encouraged' about their grievances (the kindling). And, the availability and encouraged popularity of murderous weapons is the 'lighter' to start the fire.

Perhaps there could be a 'better' zone...one where we air inappropriate behavior while also not enabling mass murder with certain tools. Just a thought.

ETA: typo

 

[cady]

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

I'm thinking that there was some sort of gunfight...or at least more guns than one, and that the shooters were shooting at each other..or, one meant to mass murder and another was shooting to stop him. All minors and probably really confusing to LE. Shooters may both be hospitalized. If there was only one and he is dead I think they would have said so. And they may not know who was shot by who until autopsies. Ugh. JMO

 

[everybodhi]

I agree. I hear so often how wonderful "the old days" were. Those were the days when you kept quiet about domestic violence and sexual assault, because they were 'family matters' or 'not appropriate to talk about'. The good old days weren't necessarily good. They just didn't talk about stuff.

Having said that, I also agree with someone else who mentioned the 'internet' as a problem. Those who felt/feel like outcasts had a place to be 'encouraged' about their grievances (the kindling). And, the availability and encouraged popularity of muderous weapons is the 'lighter' to start the fire.

Perhaps there could be a 'better' zone...one where we air inappropriate behavior while also not enabling mass murder with certain tools. Just a thought.

Mass shootings may not have been a thing back then but there sure was a proliferation of serial killers, I suspect even more than we know. Missing people didn’t get the attention they do now, they just disappeared.

 

[auburnmomof2]

I'm thinking that there was some sort of gunfight...or at least more guns than one, and that the shooters were shooting at each other..or, one meant to mass murder and another was shooting to stop him. All minors and probably really confusing to LE. Shooters may both be hospitalized. If there was only one and he is dead I think they would have said so. And they may not know who was shot by who until autopsies. Ugh. JMO

I think this could explain a lot actually. I had been thinking an automatic rifle was used but multiple shooters on both sides (people shooting at the people at the party and people already there shooting back in defense) could easily fire a lot of shots in a short amount of time.

 

[evilwise]

Dadeville is also where just last fall that guy chopped up his girlfriend and her son and kept her daughter tied to the bed.

Child discovery leads Alabama police to 2 bodies, arrest

Child survived but unfortunately there might be two victims https://www.wbrc.com/2022/08/02/childs-discovery-leads-alabama-police-2-bodies-arrest/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alabama-abducted-girl-chews-through-restraints-escape-two-bodies-jose-paulino-pascual-reyes/ A man is facing...

www.websleuths.com

 

[vls12345]

If there were multiple shooters amid this gathering of high schoolers, it makes me think of the SC beach shooting last week.... Not sure they will ever be able to figure out who fired shots...

Senior skip day shooting injures 5 at South Carolina beach

A South Carolina beach partially filled with high school students participating in a “senior skip day” led to a shooting that injured five.

abcnews.go.com

 

[Leve]

Dadeville shooting victim attends prayer vigil in hospital gown

Hundreds prayed for peace at the vigil about two blocks from the site of Saturday night's mass shooting.

www.montgomeryadvertiser.com

“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.

Taniya said she went to the back of the room and there were “other shooters.”

Sounds like several shooters.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

A pastor prays for shooting victims in Dadeville, Ala., at a vigil in the parking lot of First Baptist Church, Sunday, April 16, 2023.

Alabama Shooting

A pastor prays for shooting victims in Dadeville, Ala., at a vigil in the parking lot of First Baptist Church, Sunday, April 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy)

scnow.com

Dadeville High School has 485 students in grades 6-12 by 2022, according to Alabama state data. It serves Dadeville and surrounding areas of Tallapoosa County. Like the rest of Dadeville, it is hidden from view of the busy highway that runs from Birmingham to Auburn.

Dadeville, Alabama shooting: Officials say 4 people killed - USTimesPost

Among the dead was a high school student who planned to play college football and was celebrating his sister's 16th birthday on Saturday night.

ustimespost.com

*its a small school but a large turnout for the vigil.

"Philstavious Dowdell is my best friend and Shonquevious Smith, that was a good friend of mine," Dadeville High student Antojuan Woody said. "I'm just devastated by what happened."

"My sister works at East Alabama Medical Center and is a nurse there," Dadeville High teacher and coach Mardracus Russell said. "And she called me and told me that she thinks that a young man that I had posted on my Facebook from when we went to a Detroit University meet on Friday, she thinks that he had been killed. And it was just a devastating moment."

Prayer vigil held at Dadeville church for victims of deadly mass shooting at birthday party

Prayer vigil held at Dadeville church for victims of deadly mass shooting at birthday party

www.wvtm13.com

 

[Seni]

I dont know anyone who owns a gun, altho I live in dangerous country where they are permitted.

Years ago a profesor friend of my husband's from Pittsburg uni turned up with a dagger knife for our oldest (then 12) as present. No way this was staying in our home.

 

[clearskies1]

I hope local law enforcement lets the FBI support their criminal investigation.

 

[airportwoman]

The only incident I can compare the silence for this long was the club shooting in Colorado. The name of the club escapes me as there are so many they all run together for me.

That was the Club Q shooting, where a man whose wife co-owns a microbrewery tackled the shooter and took him down. I ordered a t-shirt from that microbrewery and still haven't received it (and TBH don't care if I do) but got an e-mail from them saying that no, they are not crooks who are keeping the money, and the shirts will be delivered soon.

 

[airportwoman]

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.

On top of it, there's a very high chance that the perp(s) is/are minors themselves.

(Or the relatives of a cop, or in law enforcement themselves?)

 

[Snoopster]

I dont know anyone who owns a gun, altho I live in dangerous country where they are permitted.

Years ago a profesor friend of my husband's from Pittsburg uni turned up with a dagger knife for our oldest (then 12) as present. No way this was staying in our home.

On top of it, there's a very high chance that the perp(s) is/are minors themselves.

(Or the relatives of a cop, or in law enforcement themselves?)

I'm guessing the perps are minors. Hence the silence.
My thoughts are with the victims' families. I wish I could give them a real hug, but I'll have to settle for a virtual hug. My sincerest condolences! I know that doesn't mean much but it comes from my heart.

 

[everybodhi]

On top of it, there's a very high chance that the perp(s) is/are minors themselves.

(Or the relatives of a cop, or in law enforcement themselves?)

Any shooter/shooters being related to LE is not something I had thought about but we’ve seen in several cases that do not get the normal timely media releases by police often have a connection. Jmo
LE waited too long to make a statement which many people find suspicious.
Several kids being shot at a sweet 16 party is not something that details can be kept quiet for long. Jmo
I wonder about procedure after the shooting.
How many people were there?
Did they conduct interviews on site of people not injured?
Were kids swabbed for gunshot residue on their hands, at the scene or in the hospital?
Were any guns recovered?
Did any people leave before LE arrived?
If it was a big party, it could take time to sort it all out and and with multiple witnesses, statements given during traumatic events are often conflicting.

 

[LaborDayRN]

I agree. I hear so often how wonderful "the old days" were. Those were the days when you kept quiet about domestic violence and sexual assault, because they were 'family matters' or 'not appropriate to talk about'. The good old days weren't necessarily good. They just didn't talk about stuff.

Having said that, I also agree with someone else who mentioned the 'internet' as a problem. Those who felt/feel like outcasts had a place to be 'encouraged' about their grievances (the kindling). And, the availability and encouraged popularity of murderous weapons is the 'lighter' to start the fire.

Perhaps there could be a 'better' zone...one where we air inappropriate behavior while also not enabling mass murder with certain tools. Just a thought.

ETA: typo

I agree with all you said above but just to clarify what I said upthread........

When I references the innocence I had in my youth I was referring to the fact that at that time we didn't have this.....
"The US has suffered at least 162 mass shootings in the first 15 weeks of 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive. That’s an average of more than 1.5 mass shootings every day so far this year."
Yes we had violent crime. But this gun violence, the mass shootings in our current society is beyond anything I could have imagined back then. The loss of lives, many of them children. I could not have imagined this in my worst nightmares.

 

[Snoopster]

I agree with all you said above but just to clarify what I said upthread........

When I references the innocence I had in my youth I was referring to the fact that at that time we didn't have this.....
"The US has suffered at least 162 mass shootings in the first 15 weeks of 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive. That’s an average of more than 1.5 mass shootings every day so far this year."
Yes we had violent crime. But this gun violence, the mass shootings in our current society is beyond anything I could have imagined back then. The loss of lives, many of them children. I could not have imagined this in my worst nightmares.

I understand and I'm devastated for you and others in your country. I truly am. But I am limited in what I am allowed to say.
I'm Canadian and we just can't relate to these mass killings south of the border.

 

[JourneyRain]

I know some rumors were more deceased than 4 thus I’m wondering if some of the deceased could be the shooters. Just odd though.

Poor girl that was having a birthday party. The trauma that will now always be associated with her not so sweet sixteen.

 

[airportwoman]

If you go back a ways, arson was a not-uncommon method of mass murder, especially in the days before modern fire safety regulations.

 

[airportwoman]

I know some rumors were more deceased than 4 thus I’m wondering if some of the deceased could be the shooters. Just odd though.

Poor girl that was having a birthday party. The trauma that will now always be associated with her not so sweet sixteen.

And her brother was one of the fatalities, the only one I've seen named so far.