Four people were killed and several others injured in a shooting that took place Saturday night at a birthday party in the small town of Dadeville, Alabama, police said at a news conference on Sunday morning.
A local TV station, citing local investigators, reported that more than 20 people were injured in the shooting. Law enforcement officials declined to answer questions or provide further details at the press conference.
According to police, the shooting happened around 10:34 p.m. on Saturday. Authorities did not provide details on his causes and it is not known if any suspects have been taken into custody.
Still, local media reported the death of a future US soccer star in that shooting. Phil Dowdell, who recently enrolled at Jacksonville State University to continue his high-level education, was one of four people killed during his brother Alexis’ birthday party.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said on Twitter Sunday morning that she was being “closely briefed” by law enforcement. “This morning I mourn with the people of Dadeville and my countrymen in Alabama,” she wrote. “Violent crime has NO place in our state.”
On Monday, a bank employee shot dead five employees and injured nine others at his workplace in Louisville, Kentucky. On March 27, three 9-year-old children and three staff members at a Christian private school in Nashville, Tennessee, were killed by a former student.
Mass shootings have become commonplace in the United States. More than 146 have been counted so far in 2023, the highest number so far this year since at least 2016, according to the nonprofit Gun Violence Archive. . This defines a mass shooting as a gunfight resulting in at least four people killed, not counting the shooter.