(CNN) — As a roomful of “Sweet 16” revelers in Dadeville, Alabama, rocked out to a DJ on Saturday night, the party was abruptly cut short by a hail of gunfire, injuring dozens of people and leaving four dead, at least two of whom were locally high School leavers about to graduate.
One of the victims, Philstavious Dowdell, was the birthday boy’s brother, according to people who knew him.
The shooting devastated the town of about 3,000 where “everyone knows everyone,” Ben Hayes, chaplain of the Dadeville High School football team, told CNN.
“I knew these guys personally. Most people knew her,” said Hayes, who is also a church pastor and chaplain for the Dadeville Police Department.
At least 28 people were injured in the mass shooting, many of them teenagers. A hospital that took in 15 injured teenagers said Sunday it had treated and discharged six of the patients and transferred the rest to other facilities. Five of them are in critical condition and four are stable, a hospital spokesman said.
This is what we know so far about the victims.
Keke Smith
Keke Smith Credit: Keke Smith/Facebook
Keke Smith was a high school grad hoping to attend the University of Alabama, said Amy Jackson, who posed as Smith’s cousin.
“He was always smiling,” Jackson said.
Smith’s mother was the person who told Jackson her cousin had been murdered, she said.
Smith was the director of Dadeville High School’s track and field team and helped the basketball team, said assistant football, track and basketball coach Michael Taylor. He recently tore his ACL and had to stop walking, he added.
Philstavious Dowdell
Philstavious Dowdell Credit: Philstavious Dowdell/Facebook
Dowdell was a gifted athlete who excelled in football, basketball and track at Dadeville High, Taylor said.
“Whatever he put his hands on, God blessed him for it,” said Taylor, who has coached Dowdell since he was 9 years old.
According to Taylor, Dowdell, the eldest of three children, was killed while attending his younger sister’s birthday party. Hayes, the pastor, and Keenan Cooper, a DJ at the party, also confirmed that Dowdell was among those killed.
Just a month ago, the coach said, Dowdell said to him, “If anything ever happens to me, even if I’m going to college, take care of my two sisters.”
The teenager had won a football scholarship to Jacksonville State University in Alabama, according to Cooper, who described Dowdell as “kind of a hometown hero.”
Jacksonville State head coach Rich Rodriguez said in a release on Sunday that Dowdell is “a great young man with a bright future.”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Philstavious Dowdell and the other victims of last night’s senseless tragedy,” Rodriguez said Sunday.
Dadeville’s Philstavious Dowdell (7) fends off an opposing player during a soccer match October 8, 2021. Credit: Kirsten Fiscus/The Montgomery Advertiser/USA Today/Imagn
Describing Dowdell as a humble person whom he knew “like a son”, Taylor explained that his own college son was very close to Dowdell and they frequently trained together.
“His grandmother used to say a passage to him every morning before school to make sure he was always prepared,” the coach said.
The condition of the wounded during the shooting
Those injured during the shooting were taken to various medical centers, including at least 15 teenagers who were taken to Lake Martin Community Hospital in Dadeville.
Six of the injured have been treated and discharged, the remaining nine have been transferred to other centers, said hospital spokeswoman Heidi Smith on Sunday. At the last check, five of these youths were in critical condition and four in stable condition.
In nearby Alexander City, Russell Medical Center has received “several patients” from the party shooting, spokeswoman Susan Foy said.
“They were treated and released or transferred to other facilities,” Foy said. He did not confirm how many patients were received or how old they were.
At least one of the injured was a student from the town of Pike Road, about 100 kilometers southwest of Dadeville and on the outskirts of Montgomery, the Pike Road schools said in a statement on Facebook. It is unclear what injuries the student sustained and what his condition is.
“Many of our students know the victims of this tragedy. We can confirm that one of our students was in attendance and we continue to pray for his full recovery,” the statement said.
CNN’s Holly Yan, Chris Boyette, Emma Tucker, Keith Allen, Dianne Gallagher, Tina Burnside, Joe Sutton, David Williams and Alex Medeiros contributed to this report.