Dadeville, Alabama, where 4 people were killed and dozens injured at a mass shooting at a teen’s birthday party. Source: Rivers Langley, Wikimedia Commons
At least four people have been killed and some 28 injured during a mass shooting at a teenager’s 16th birthday party in a dance studio in Dadeville, Alabama.
Law enforcement say the shooting happened at around 10:30pm on Saturday, local time.
There was no initial known reason for the shooting.
Jeremy Burkett, a sergeant with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, said, “We’re going to continue to work in a very methodical way to go through this scene, to look at the facts, and ensure that justice is brought to bear for the families.”
Pastor Ben Hayes, the chaplain for the Dadeville Police Department and the local high school football team, said that most of the victims of the attack were teenagers. He said that this attack has shocked locals, as serious crime is rare in the town.
“One of the young men that was killed was one of our star athletes and just a great guy,” Pastor Hayes said. “So I knew many of these students.”
“Dadeville is a small town and this is going to affect everybody in this area.”
The party took place inside the Mahogany Masterpiece Dance Studio, half a block from City Hall.
Several of the victims were taken to local hospitals for medical treatment.
US President Joe Biden said in a statement on Sunday, “What has our nation come to when children cannot attend a birthday party without fear?”
There was another shooting in a park in Louisville, Kentucky on Saturday night, where two people were killed and four injured.
In this year alone, there have been an estimated 160 or more mass shootings in the United States.
