Alabama shooting – update: Six suspects including boy, 15, arrested over Dadeville Sweet 16 party attack

The fatal victims were identified on Monday as Keke Nicole Smith, 17, Phil Dowdell, 18, Marsiah Collins, 19 and Corbin Holston, 23. Four victims remain hospitalised in critical condition as of Wednesday night, District Attorney Mark Sergist said.

“It don’t make the hurt any easier. But we are relieved that they (the suspects) are not out in the community,” Smith’s cousin Amy Jackson told the AP.

The gunfire broke out at a birthday party for Dowdell’s sister Alexis Dowdell, which was being held at a dance studio just off the town’s courthouse square. Witnesses had said multiple people began shooting some time after Dowdell’s mother paused the celebration to ask people with guns to leave.

The three suspects were not invited to the party and her daughter “didn’t know them”, said the mother of the teenager whose ‘Sweet 16’ birthday party was interrupted by the shooting.

They might have come with someone else as word of the party spread on social media, added LaTonya Allen, who is also the mother of one of the shooting victims.

“I just feel broken to know he is not with me,” Ms Allen said. “But I do feel a little peace knowing they arrested somebody.”

A survivor of the Dadeville, Alabama, mass shooting attended a vigil in her hospital gown just a day after the tragedy.

Taniya Cox, an 18-year-old who was shot twice in her right arm as she fled the party, joined hundreds of residents, community leaders and local politicians at a vigil on Sunday night.

In an interview with CBS News, Ms Cox also recounted the moments leading up to the violence and recalled seeing more than one gunman.

“The mother said whoever had guns had to get out and they didn’t get out and five minutes later the shooting started,” she said.

“I ran in front of a bullet and got shot. I didn’t know what was going on I just saw blood coming out of my arm.”

Andrea Blanco reports.

Sgt Jeremy J Burkett of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency indicated that investigators have determined a motive for the shooting, but refused to release it at the time of the press conference.

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

“We can’t share that.”

He also denied to discuss how investigators believe the shooting unfolded.

Ty Reik McCullough, 17, and his 16-year-old brother Travis McCullough were arrested by the Alabama police in connection with the Dadeville shooting where four people lost their lives.

However, a 36-year-old man, who is also named Travis McCullough, has been receiving threatening and hateful messages on social media.

“I’ve been scared to go outside just because of the messages and comments I’ve been seeing,” Mr McCullough told Montgomery Advertiser.

Mr McCullough works as a delivery driver and lives 40 miles northeast in the valley. He initially began deleting the hate comments and DMs but later realised he might need proof of the threats if something bad were to happen.

“I’ve been cautious about that all day,” he said. “Just know, I’m not the one that did it.”

Dadeville Police announced the arrests of 17-year-old Ty Reik McCullough and 16-year-old Travis McCullough and Wilson LaMar Hill Jr, 20, at a press conference on Wednesday morning after remaining tight-lipped about the progress of the investigation for four days after the horror attack at the Mahogany Masterpiece Dance Studio on Saturday night.

According to local outlet AL.com, the teens suspects are brothers.

The teens were taken into custody on Tuesday night and have been charged with four counts of reckless murder each. Mr McCullough was arrested on Wednesday.

Sgt Jeremy Burkett of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said during a press conference on Wednesday that a motive for the shooting has been determined, but details will not be shared with the public at this time.

Police in smalltown Dadeville, Alabama, are continuing their investigation into the mass shooting at a teenager’s birthday party that left four people dead and a further 32 injured.

The violence broke out at approximately 10.34pm on Saturday at the Mahogany Masterpiece Dance Studio in the downtown area of Dadeville where Alexis Dowdell was celebrating her 16th birthday with friends and family.

The Independent’s Joe Sommerlad has more:

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey tweets has said that the “work is not done” following the arrests of three people in the mass shooting at a Sweet 16 party.

“Violent crime has NO place in Alabama and what happened in Dadeville was horrific. I’m proud of the major progress made by law enforcement,” she tweeted on Wednesday.

“The work is not done, and we will fully support ALEA as they work to ensure we hold ALL responsible for this tragedy accountable.”

Three suspects have now been charged over the mass shooting at a “Sweet 16” birthday party in Alabama.

Travis McCullough, 16, his brother Tyreese “Ty Reik” McCullough, 17, and Wilson LaMar Hill Jr, 20, were all charged with four counts of reckless murder.

The motive for the attack remains unknown.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Sgt Jeremy Burkett of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency declined to discuss how investigators believe the shooting unfolded.

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

“We can’t share that.”