Alabama shooting live updates: Police plead for help; birthday girl begged dying brother to 'stay with me'

DADEVILLE, Ala. – Key questions remained unanswered Tuesday, including the identity of a gunman and possible motive, as authorities pleaded with the public for information about a shooting at a Sweet 16 party in Alabama.

Four people were killed and 32 injured, some of them critically, after gunfire erupted Saturday night at Mahogany Masterpiece dance studio in Dadeville, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.

Residents in the small town of 3,200 people about 57 miles northeast of Montgomery were struggling to understand how a night of celebration could turn so quickly into terror.

Alexis Dowdell, who said she had planned her 16th birthday party for months, painfully recalled Monday how she begged her dying brother to "stay with me" after he was shot. Philstavious “Phil” Dowdell, a star athlete recruited to play college football, was one of two Dadeville High School seniors killed in the gunfire.

As of Tuesday afternoon, law enforcement officials had yet to release much information about the investigation and urged patience as they asked anyone with images or information about the shooting to reach out to authorities.

Dadeville Mayor Jimmy “Frank” Goodman implored witnesses to come forward. "Our law enforcement agencies need our help," he said. Pastor Fred Hutcherson of Zion Hill Baptist Church also asked churchgoers to inform law enforcement if they know anything.

"This is our city, these are our people," he said. "The way to show our love is to get involved the right way and talk with law enforcement."

Meanwhile, some residents expressed concerns over the limited information that has been released.

"I was hoping to hear that they had the people responsible," said Erica Jackson, a Dadeville resident who attended a news conference Sunday. "We need to know. Are they still out there? Why won’t anybody tell us anything?"

PREVIOUS UPDATES: Police search for shooter, victims identified

What happened at the shooting in Dadeville, Alabama?

The party began with "everybody dancing, vibing to the music," Alexis Dowdell said.

But the event was stopped briefly when attendees heard someone had a gun, the party’s DJ, Keenan Cooper, told WBMA-TV. Anyone with guns was asked to leave, but Cooper said no one did.

Soon after, around 10:30 p.m., the shooting began, sending people scattering under tables or outside for safety, authorities said.

Investigators found numerous shell casings from handguns at the scene but said no high-powered rifle ammunition was found, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.

Alabama incident one of seven mass shootings Saturday

The shooting in Alabama was one of seven mass shootings Saturday, the highest number of any day in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

The archive defines a mass shooting as any in which four or more people are shot or killed, including the shooter.

The shootings spanned California, New Jersey, Hawaii, Arizona, Alabama and Kentucky and left 10 people dead. The most deadly shooting was in Alabama, which marked the 160th mass shooting in the U.S. in 2023.

Victims of Alabama Sweet 16 shooting identified

The four people killed in the attack included a star football player in Phil Dowdell, a fashion lover looking forward to her high school graduation and a young musician.

Tallapoosa County coroner Mike Knox identified the dead Monday as Marsiah Emmanuel “Siah” Collins, 19, of Opelika, Alabama; Corbin Dahmontrey Holston, 23, of Dadeville, Alabama; Dowdell, 18, of Camp Hill, Alabama; and Shaunkivia Nicole “Keke” Smith, 17, of Dadeville. Dowdell and Smith were high school seniors with designs on attending college.

WHO WERE THE VICTIMS?: Alabama shooting victims, in their late teens and early 20s, identified

Birthday girl recalls shooting, urging brother to hang on

Alexis Dowdell described Monday how her Sweet 16 birthday party ended with her kneeling beside her dying brother on the bloodied floor of the studio.

"I got on my knees and he was laying face down," she said. "And that’s when I grabbed him. I turned him over. I was holding him."

She begged her brother, Phil Dowdell, 18, to "stay with me."

By the time paramedics arrived, he had no pulse. Dowdell said she asked them to check on her brother.

"I was like, ‘Is he alive or is he dead?’ And the people didn’t want to tell me, so they just gave me, like, a certain look. And I just knew he was just gone."

Five teens in critical condition at local hospital

Five patients were in critical condition Monday among the 16 teenagers treated for injuries at Dadeville's Lake Martin Community Hospital, spokesperson Heidi Smith said. All but one of the injured had gunshot wounds, she said. The other one was hurt when trampled.

Six of the victims were treated at Lake Martin and discharged. Nine were transferred to a higher level of care, four of them in stable condition, Smith said.

She said some of the survivors had wounds to the head, pelvis or extremities, adding that there were "no fatalities at this hospital."

– Alex Gladden, Montgomery Advertiser

Shooting sends shock waves through Dadeville High School community

Counselors were on hand Monday as students returned to Tallapoosa County schools, school district superintendent Raymond C. Porter said.

Head football coach Roger McDonald said he would try his best to support grieving students at the school of 485 students.

"There’s not a playbook for something like this," he said. "The best you (can) do is just love on your kids, let them all know how much you care about them, be there for them."

President Biden reacts to Alabama shooting

In the wake of the shooting, President Joe Biden called for increased gun restrictions, including legislation on safe storage of firearms, background checks and bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.

“What has our nation come to when children cannot attend a birthday party without fear? When parents have to worry every time their kids walk out the door to school, to the movie theater, or to the park?” Biden said in a statement Sunday. “Guns are the leading killer of children in America, and the numbers are rising – not declining. This is outrageous and unacceptable.”

Contributing: The Associated Press

Contact Christine Fernando at cfernando@usatoday.com or follow her on Twitter at @christinetfern.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Alabama shooting live updates: Police seek help in search for gunman