Alabama: Four dead and 28 injured after mass shooting at birthday party
Four people, including an up-and-coming American football star, have been killed in a shooting in Alabama.
A further 28 people are injured – and officials say some of them are in a critical condition.
The incident took place at a teenager’s 16th birthday party late on Saturday evening in the city of Dadeville, in Tallapoosa County – about 60 miles (100km) northeast of Alabama’s state capital Montgomery.
The dance studio where the birthday party was taking place. Pic: AP
It was not immediately known if a suspect was in custody, but officials said the gunman was no longer a threat to the community.
“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,” said Jeremy Burkett, a sergeant with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.
Among those killed was a football player who had just signed with Jacksonville State University.
Philstavious “Phil” Dowdell was celebrating at his sister Alexis’s party before he was shot to death, his grandmother Annette Allen told The Montgomery Advertiser.
“He was a very, very humble child. Never messed with anybody. Always had a smile on his face,” Ms Allen told the newspaper, calling it “a million-dollar smile”.
He had received offers from multiple universities but proudly declared his decision to attend Jacksonville on 1 February.
Head football coach Rich Rodriguez at Jax State University, where the high school senior had been signed to play, said it was “heartbroken” at the loss of the promising player.
Mr Dowdell’s mother was also hurt in the shooting.
Speaking at an earlier news briefing, Mr Burkett confirmed the shooting was “tied to a birthday party” – and urged members of the community with information to come forward.
“There were four lives, not fatalities, lives, lost in this incident,” he said, as well as a “multitude of injuries”.
“We’re going to continue to work through 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. We will do that,” he added.
Dadeville’s mayor, Frank Goodman, said the scene at a nearby hospital was “chaotic”.
“There were people running around. They were crying and screaming,” he said. “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.”
Read more:
The US gun problem is staggering – and getting worse
America’s problem with guns stands alone
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘We won’t let this tragedy define us’
Superintendent Raymond Porter added that counselling will be provided for students at school on Monday.
“We will make every effort to comfort those children and don’t lose sight of the fact that those are the ones most impacted by this situation,” he said.
In a statement, President Joe Biden asked: “What has our nation come to when children cannot attend a birthday party without fear?”
He added that gun violence in the US is “outrageous and unacceptable” – and urged politicians in Congress to pass laws that could shift liability to arms manufacturers, ban assault weapons, require safe storage of guns, and more background checks.
WRBL-TV reported that the attack took place at a dance studio, with the station showing images of crime scene tape around the venue and neighbouring buildings, as well as a heavy police presence.
Pic: AP
Pastor Ben Hayes, who serves as the chaplain for the Dadeville Police Department and for the local high school football team, said most of the victims are young because the shooting occurred at a teenager’s birthday party.
He said the shooting rocked the small town where serious crime is rare – and described one of the victims as a “great guy”.
“I knew many of these students,” he said. “Dadeville is a small town and this is going to affect everybody in this area.”
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said the shooting happened at about 10.30pm on Saturday and gave no information about a possible motive.
Authorities assisting with the investigation
The FBI, the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Fifth Circuit District Attorney’s Office had also responded to the scene and were assisting with the investigation.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey said in a statement: “This morning, I grieve with the people of Dadeville and my fellow Alabamians.
“Violent crime has no place in our state, and we are staying closely updated by law enforcement as details emerge.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
December 2022: The true scale of America’s gun problem
Dadeville is a small city of about 3,000 people.
This is at least the second time in recent years that multiple people were shot in Dadeville. Five people were wounded in July 2016 during a shooting at an American Legion hall, and a man was later charged with five counts of attempted murder, news outlets reported.
There have been 162 mass shootings in the country so far this year, according to Gun Violence Archive.
The Dadeville shooting occurred within weeks of two high-profile mass shootings in the nearby states of Tennessee and Kentucky, which prompted local leaders to call for tighter gun control measures last week.
Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts
A bank employee shot dead five colleagues and wounded nine other people at his workplace in Louisville on Monday.
On 27 March, three nine-year-olds and three staff members were killed at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, by a former student.
A Gaza deal is “on the brink”, President Joe Biden has said in his final foreign policy address.
The outgoing US leader said it would include a hostage release deal and a “surge” of aid to Palestinians.
“So many innocent people have been killed, so many communities have been destroyed. Palestinian people deserve
peace,” he said.
“The deal would free the hostages, halt the fighting, provide security to Israel, and allow us to significantly surge humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians who suffered terribly in this war that Hamas started.”
Pic: Reuters
The US president also hailed Washington’s support for Israel during two Iranian attacks in 2024.
“All told, Iran is weaker than it’s been in decades,” he said.
Read more:
Pope Francis honoured by Joe Biden
Donald Trump’s inauguration 2.0
Mr Biden was delivering his final foreign policy address before he leaves office next week.
Monday’s address will be the penultimate time he speaks to the country before the end of his presidency. He is due to give a farewell address on Wednesday.
US and Arab mediators made significant progress overnight toward brokering a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and the release of scores of hostages held in the Gaza Strip – but a deal has not been reached yet, officials said.
A round of ceasefire talks will be held in Doha on Tuesday to finalise remaining details related to a ceasefire deal in Gaza – including over the release of up to 33 hostages – officials added.
Mr Biden went on to claim America’s adversaries were weaker than when he took office four years ago and that the US was “winning the worldwide competition”.
“Compared to four years ago, America is stronger, our alliances are stronger, our adversaries and competitors are
weaker,” he said.
“We have not gone to war to make these things happen.”
World
IDF admits ‘serious offence’ after using vehicle marked ambulance in raid in which a grandmother was killed
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has admitted to a “serious offence” after a Sky News investigation analysed CCTV footage showing the moment an 80-year-old Palestinian grandmother was shot in the West Bank.
Halima Abu Leil was shot during a raid in Nablus. The grandmother died soon after.
During the course of the investigation, we noted that a blue vehicle marked as an ambulance and with a red light on its roof was used by IDF troops to enter the West Bank.
Our investigation stated: “Figures who appear to be Israeli military forces exit the ambulance in the foreground. They are equipped with helmets, backpacks, rifles, and other gear.”
The use of a marked medical vehicle for a security operation could be a contravention of the Geneva Convention and a war crime – as well as Halima’s killing.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
CCTV shows Palestinian grandmother shot in IDF raid
The IDF has subsequently told Sky News: “On December 19, 2024, soldiers from the ‘Duvdevan’ unit took part in an operational mission to detain terrorists in Nablus.
“During the operation, an ambulance-like vehicle was used for operational purposes, without authorisation and without the relevant commanders’ approval.”
It added: “The use of the ambulance-like vehicle during the operation was a serious offence, exceeding authority, and a violation of existing orders and procedures.”
It also said the commander of the ‘Duvdevan’ unit was “reprimanded”.
However, it gave no update into the death of Halima, saying “the circumstances of the incident are being examined”.
Read more on Sky News:
UK to ‘mainline AI in the veins’ under PM’s new plans
Jeff Bezos’s New Glenn debut launch called off
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on occupied Palestinian territory Francesca Albanese watched the CCTV video and told Sky News her death could be a “war crime”.
She said: “When I look at the footage, what emerges prima facie is that there were no precautions taken – within these operations whose legality is debatable – to avoid or spare civilian life.
“No principle of proportionality because there was wildfire directed at the identified target and ultimately no respect for the principle of distinction.
“So this was a murder in cold blood and could be a war crime as an extrajudicial killing.”
According to the United Nations Office Of Human Rights in occupied Palestinian territory, Israeli security forces and settlers have killed at least 813 mostly unarmed Palestinians, including 15 women and 177 children, since 7 October 2023.
Ukraine’s president is offering a prisoner swap with North Korean soldiers it has captured, in exchange for Ukrainians held by Russia.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made a direct appeal to leader Kim Jong Un after seizing two North Koreans in Russia’s Kursk region.
“In addition to the first captured soldiers from North Korea, there will undoubtedly be more. It’s only a matter of time before our troops manage to capture others,” he said in a video posted on X.
His video also included an offer of help to officials in California fighting the ongoing fires there.
It is the first time Ukraine has announced the capture of North Korean soldiers since their entry into the nearly three-year-old war last autumn.
Ukrainian and Western assessments say that some 11,000 troops from Russia‘s ally North Korea have been deployed in the Kursk region to support Moscow’s forces, although Russia has neither confirmed nor denied their presence.
Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un met in Pyongyang to sign a ‘military pact’ in June 2024. Pic: Kremlin Photo/AP
Mr Zelenskyy has said Russian and North Korean forces had suffered heavy losses.
“Ukraine is ready to hand over Kim Jong Un’s soldiers to him if he can organise their exchange for our warriors who are being held captive in Russia,” Mr Zelenskyy added.
He posted a short video showing the interrogation of two men, presented as North Korean soldiers.
One of them is lying on a bed with bandaged hands, the other is sitting with a bandage on his jaw.
Ukraine said on Saturday it had captured two North Korean soldiers. Pic: Volodymyr Zelenskyy/X
One of the men said through an interpreter that he did not know he was fighting against Ukraine and had been told he was on a training exercise. He said he hid in a shelter during the offensive and was found a couple of days later.
He said that if he was ordered to return to North Korea, he would, but he was ready to stay in Ukraine if given the chance.
Read more from Sky News:
Footage reveals shocking moment 80-year-old is shot in IDF raid
Is Bezos chasing down Musk in billionaire space race?
Sky News has not been able to verify the video.
“One of them (soldiers) expressed a desire to stay in Ukraine, the other to return to Korea,” said Mr Zelenskyy, adding that for North Korean soldiers who did not wish to return home, there may be other options available.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports9 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway