Two days after a killer gunned down revelers celebrating a Sweet 16 party, police say they have “strong leads” in the massacre that left four people dead, at least 32 others injured and a small Alabama city tormented by confusion and grief.
In addition to the young victims killed, at least 15 teens were shot and hospitalized Saturday night in Dadeville.
Despite the leads, police have not released any information about a possible suspect or motive behind the violence.
While Dadeville’s police chief asked for “patience” with the investigation, he and state officials urged anyone who has pictures or information from the scene to help authorities.
“I cannot stress this enough: We absolutely need you to share it,” Sgt. Jeremy J. Burkett of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said.
The gunfire erupted around 10:34 p.m. Saturday at a venue in downtown Dadeville. Keenan Cooper, who was DJ’ing the party, said he didn’t notice any fight or disturbance before the shooting.
“It’s really sad to see all the kids that were shot and the ones that are deceased,” Cooper told CNN. “And seeing all those bodies at the front door, all those kids are probably going to be traumatized.”
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency did not specify the ages of the 32 people injured or whether they were all shot. But Burkett said some of them were critically injured.
4 young lives inexplicably cut short
On Monday, Tallapoosa County Coroner Mike Knox identified all four of the victims killed:
• Corbin Dahmontrey Holston, a 23-year-old male from Dadeville, Alabama
• Marsiah Emmanuel Collins, a 19-year-old male from Opelika, Alabama
• Philstavious Dowdell, an 18-year-old male from Camp Hill, Alabama, and a senior at Dadeville High School
• Shaunkivia (KeKe) Nicole Smith, a 17-year-old female, also a senior at Dadeville High School
‘Don’t give up on me,’ victim’s sister says she told him
Dowdell was the brother of the teen celebrating her birthday, Alexis Dowdell, the family says.
Partygoers were enjoying the music when the gunfire started, Alexis told CNN on Tuesday. People panicked and ran around, she said.
“And then all I remember is my brother grabbing me and pushing me down to the ground” while the shooting continued, Alexis said.
She felt a pool of blood on the ground, she said. Uninjured, she said she eventually got up and went outside and found her stepfather and mother, LaTonya Allen, who also had been at the party.
When she went back inside and the lights were turned on, Alexis could see her brother, wounded on the ground. She ran to him and held him, she said, telling him: “’(You’re) strong. Don’t give up on me.’”
When emergency medical technicians arrived, Alexis asked them to check her brother’s pulse. “And they checked and they said he was gone,” she said.
Dowdell was a star football player at Dadeville High School and earned a scholarship to play at Jacksonville State University, Cooper said.
Allen, his mother, said he was “everything you would want in a son.”
“He always did everything to make me happy,” Allen said.
2 best friends and ‘very respectful children’ were killed
Collins was a high school football player and an aspiring musician who looked forward to attending Louisiana State University in the fall, his father Martin Collins told CNN.
He graduated from Opelika High School in 2022 and was accepted to LSU for that fall semester. But he decided to take a year off to pursue a music career and spend more time with his mother before heading out of state for college.
“Marsiah was optimistic and a loving person who cared about his family deeply,” his father said. “He loved to spend time with his sisters, and he loved football.”
The younger Collins was also best friends with Philstavious Dowdell, despite playing football for different high schools, his father said.
“Football in Alabama connects the kids. Those kids did everything together. They would even go to each other’s high schools to watch each other play,” Martin Collins said.
Marsiah Collins is survived by his older brother, two younger sisters and his parents.
“I have my son’s picture over my bed,” his father said. “And to wake up now and see it and know my son is dead is devastating.”
Dowdell was “kind of like the hometown hero,” Cooper said.