ALBAWABA- Two Alabama teens have been arrested and charged with four counts of reckless murder in connection with a shooting that took place at a Sweet 16 birthday party in Dadeville over the weekend.
The suspects, Ty Reik McCullough, 17, and Travis McCullough, 16, were arrested on Tuesday night. The shooting left four people dead and at least 32 others injured, including 15 teenagers who sustained gunshot wounds. Fifth Circuit District Attorney Mike Segrest said that more charges would be filed given the injuries, and both suspects would be charged as adults.
The party was being held in honor of Alexis Dowdell’s 16th birthday and was well underway when gunfire erupted. Witnesses say that her 18-year-old brother, Philstavious “Phil” Dowdell, was killed, along with Marsiah Emmanuel Collins, 19, Shaunkivia “Keke” Nicole Smith, 17, and Corbin Dahmontrey Holston, 23. Phil was shot twice in the neck and died one month before his high school graduation, where he would have received a football scholarship to attend Jacksonville State University.
The carnage is one of at least 165 mass shootings to occur in the US this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. LaTonya Allen, Phil's mother, has been waiting eagerly for updates on the investigation and told CNN that she just wants justice for her son and the other children involved in the tragedy. She said that her son's death has taken a piece of her heart and that she knows other parents feel the same way.
“It’s a nightmare that I don’t wish on any parent – to go in and to see my baby laying there in a pile of blood,” she said. “That was the worst thing that I could experience in my life.”
Alexis had been planning her Sweet 16 party for months, and on the day of the event, she told her brother that she was nervous. He comforted her and assured her that she would have fun. A rumor that someone at the party was armed led to Allen making an announcement over the speaker, asking anyone with a gun to leave. Chaperones searched the crowd but didn't find anyone carrying a gun. The DJ didn't hear any disturbance, and then gunfire erupted, causing chaos and devastation.
After the arrests, Governor Kay Ivey of Alabama condemned the shooting on Twitter.
