Fourth and fifth suspects arrested in Dadeville mass shooting
Law enforcement have arrested two more suspects in the Saturday mass shooting that left four dead and 32 people injured at a birthday party in Dadeville. These arrests mean a total of five total men are in custody now in connection with the shooting.
Johnny Letron Brown, 20, of Tuskegee, was arrested Thursday morning around 8 a.m. and formally charged with four counts of reckless murder, according to a news release from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.
Almost three hours after ALEA released information on Brown's arrest, the agency announced that Willie George Brown Jr., 19, of Auburn has also been apprehended and charged with four counts of reckless murder. He was arrested at about 11:45 a.m. on Thursday.
Officials have not confirmed whether the fourth and fifth suspects are related.
Reckless murder is a Class A felony with a punishment range of 10 to 99 years in prison.
Three other suspects are also in custody and face the same charges. They are Wilson LaMar Hill Jr., 20, Tyreese "Ty Reik" McCullough, 17, and Travis McCullough, 16. Hill is an Auburn resident, and the McCullough brothers are from Tuskegee.
The teens are being charged as adults, according to 5th Circuit District Attorney Mike Segrest. The Montgomery Advertiser is naming the juvenile suspects because they are being charged as adults and because of the severity of the charges.
Law enforcement booked all four suspects into the Tallapoosa County Jail with no bond.
The release of information from officials about the suspects has been gradual. Initially, police only told the public that four people died, 28 were injured and that there was no longer a threat at the crime scene. They later upped the injury count to 32, but remained quiet on potential suspects and a possible motive.
The first arrests in the case were made on Tuesday evening in Macon County, three days after the shooting took place. Police took the McCullough brothers into custody first and then released their names in a 10 a.m. press conference the following day.
Several hours later, authorities announced the charges against Hill as the third suspect.
The two Thursday arrests made five.
The investigation into the shooting continues, and officials from ALEA and the FBI's Mobile office are asking the public to submit any photos or videos related to the incident through an FBI tip form online.
The Dadeville Police Department, Tuskegee Police Department, Tallapoosa County Sheriff’s Office, Macon County Sheriff’s Office, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Marshals Service and the 5th Circuit District Attorney’s Office are all assisting in the investigation.
This is a developing story. As we gather more information, we will update our coverage.
Hadley Hitson covers the rural South for the Montgomery Advertiser and Report for America. She can be reached at hhitson@gannett.com. To support her work, subscribe to the Advertiser or donate to Report for America.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Police make fourth and fifth arrests in Dadeville shooting
