Two arrested and charged with murder over Alabama shooting that killed four

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Two people have been arrested and charged with murder in connection with a shooting that killed four people at a Sweet 16 birthday party in Alabama, investigators announced on Wednesday.

It was the first police news conference since the day after the shooting, which happened on Saturday.

The district attorney, Mike Segrest, said the pair would be charged as adults and prosecutors would ask a judge to hold them without bail. A bond hearing must be held by Friday, under Alabama law.

Segrest said four people remained in hospital in critical condition and more charges would be coming.

“We’re going to make sure all those victims have justice, not just the deceased,” Segrest said.

The violence shocked Dadeville, a sleepy town of 3,200 people. In addition to the four young people who were killed, 32 were wounded, some critically.

Shooting broke out at a birthday party for Alexis Dowdell, which was being held at a dance studio just off the courthouse square.

Witnesses said multiple people began shooting some time after Dowdell’s mother paused the celebration to ask people with guns to leave.

The birthday girl’s brother, Philstavious “Phil” Dowdell, died in his sister’s arms. He and another victim were high school seniors. Families were left planning funerals instead of graduation celebrations. Two other young men were also killed.

On Wednesday, Sgt Jeremy J Burkett of the Alabama law enforcement agency would not say where the two arrested people were being jailed, or whether they already were in custody when they were charged.

“We can’t get into a motive right now, because that would be part of an ongoing investigation,” Burkett said. “We can’t share that.”

Segrest said grand jurors typically meet in Tallapoosa county in March and September, but he said he would recall them to seek an indictment before September.

“If we can establish the facts, we will be asking our grand jury to come back in,” he said.

The Alabama law enforcement agency has said only that shell casings from handguns were found, noting that there was no evidence that a high-powered rifle was used. Investigators repeatedly appealed for information from the public, including videos.

Besides Dowdell, a star wide receiver with plans to play college football, those killed were fellow Dadeville high school senior Shaunkivia Nicole “KeKe” Smith, 17, an athlete turned team manager; 2022 Opelika high school graduate Marsiah Emmanuel “Siah” Collins, 19, an aspiring singer who planned to start college this fall; and 2018 Dadeville high school graduate Corbin Dahmontrey Holston, 23, another former athlete.

Holston had gone to the party to check on a younger family member who feared trouble, his mother, Janett Heard, told AL.com. Relatives told the news outlet the shooting began shortly after Holston arrived, and that he pulled his younger relative to safety.

In 2020, Alabama had the fifth highest rate of gun deaths in the country, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit, defines a mass shooting as one in which four people are shot or killed, excluding the shooter. As of Tuesday, it said there had been 165 such events in the US this year.