A tragic incident occurred in Alabama on Saturday night when a shooting broke out at a Sweet 16 birthday party, leaving four people dead and 28 others injured, some critically.
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The event took place at Mahogany Masterpiece dance studio in Dadeville. Law enforcement officials are yet to identify any suspects or provide information on the motive behind the attack.
Sgt. Jeremy Burkett of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency called the situation “fluid” and urged the community to come forward with any relevant information. The hospital in Dadeville treated at least 15 gunshot victims, while several others were transferred to different hospitals, including a trauma center in Birmingham.
Annette Allen, the grandmother of the birthday girl, lost her grandson in the incident, who was a high school athlete, while her daughter sustained injuries and was taken to the hospital. The victim, Phil Dowdell, was a promising football player, who had been weeks away from graduating and was planning to attend Jacksonville State University on a football scholarship.
The incident has shocked the tight-knit community of Dadeville, a small city with a population of around 3,000 people, located an hour’s drive from the state capital, Montgomery. Multiple communities and high schools have been affected, according to Alabama State Superintendent of Education Eric Mackey.
The shooting at the birthday party comes at a time when gun violence has become the leading cause of death for children in the US, with 2020 seeing a higher number of deaths due to firearms than car accidents in people under 19 years old. This year alone, there have been 161 mass shootings in the country, as per the Gun Violence Archive, an independent group that tracks gun violence.
President Biden has been briefed on the situation and has extended support to local authorities. Governor Kay Ivey expressed her grief over the events in Dadeville and emphasized that violent crime has no place in the state.
The incident is a stark reminder of the urgent need to address gun violence in the US and take steps to prevent such tragedies from happening in the future.
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