Residents of the small Alabama town where a party shooting killed four people and wounded 28 others were left grieving and asking for answers in the aftermath of the violence.
Among those killed, according to a family member, was Philstavious “Phil” Dowdell, who was set to play college football at Jacksonville State University after graduating from Dadeville High School in a few weeks.
The gunfire began about 10:30 p.m. Saturday at a dance studio in Dadeville, where Dowdell’s sister was celebrating her 16th birthday, according to the Montgomery Advertiser. Dowdell’s mother was reportedly among the wounded.
“[Phil Dowdell] was a strong competitor on the field,” said Pastor Ben Hayes, the chaplain for the Dadeville High School football team. “You didn’t want to try to tackle him or get tackled by him. But when he came off the field, he was one of the nicest young men that you could ever meet, very respectful and well-respected by his peers.”
Authorities haven’t said whether a suspect is in custody, nor have they released a motive for the massacre at the Mahogany Masterpiece dance studio. On Sunday, officials asked anyone with information to come forward.
The rampage left the 3,200-member community “sad, traumatized, in shock,” Hayes said.
“It was chaotic,” Dadeville Mayor Frank Goodman said Sunday. “There were people running around. They were crying and screaming. There were police cars everywhere, there were ambulances everywhere. People were trying to find out about their loved ones. That was a scene, where we never had anything like this happen in our city before.”
Officials have not named any of the victims publicly. On Sunday, Jacksonville State football coach Rich Rodriguez called Dowdell, who played wide receiver, “a great young man with a bright future” and said he was praying for the victims.
The mass shooting occurred less than a week after an employee opened fire at the Old National Bank in downtown Louisville, Ky., killing five people, officials said.
President Biden condemned Saturday’s violence as “outrageous and unacceptable” and urged Congress to “require safe storage of firearms, require background checks for all gun sales, eliminate gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability, and ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.”