By Isabel Rosales, Holly Yan and Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN
*Warning: Article contains graphic imagery of gun violence*
(CNN) — Two suspects have been arrested and charged with murder in the deadly rampage Saturday night in downtown Dadeville that left four people dead and at least 15 teenagers wounded, Sgt. Jeremy Burkett of the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said Wednesday.
The suspects, ages 17 and 16, of Tuskegee, were arrested Tuesday and charged with four counts of reckless murder each, he said.
With dozens of partygoers injured, more charges will be filed, the local District Attorney Mike Segrest said.
“We’ve still got four that are in the hospital, four that are in critical condition,” Segrest said.
Both of the teen suspects will be charged as adults, he said.
After four days of agony and bewilderment, new details are expected Wednesday in the weekend massacre that left four young people dead and dozens injured at a birthday party in Dadeville, Alabama.
Authorities so far have not released any information about a suspect or a motive behind the deadly rampage at a Sweet 16 celebration Saturday night.
Representatives of the FBI, the US Marshals Service, a prosecutor’s office and local police will be among the agencies at a news conference set for 10 a.m. CT, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said. Details about what could be revealed were not immediately available.
The carnage was one of at least 165 US mass shootings — with four or more shot, excluding a gunman — in the first four months of this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
The party, celebrating Alexis Dowdell’s 16th birthday, was in full swing when gunfire erupted, witnesses said. Her 18-year-old brother Philstavious “Phil” Dowdell was killed, along with Marsiah Emmanuel Collins, 19; Shaunkivia “Keke” Nicole Smith, 17; and Corbin Dahmontrey Holston, 23, the Tallapoosa County coroner said.
Another 32 people were injured, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency has said, without giving their ages or indicating whether all were shot. At least 15 teens were shot and taken to Dadeville’s Lake Martin Community Hospital, a spokesperson said earlier this week, when several were in critical condition.
Investigators have been following up on “strong leads” in the shooting, Dadeville Police Chief Jonathan Floyd told CNN earlier this week.
Several shell casings used in handguns were collected at the scene, and no high-powered rifle ammunition was recovered, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said.
‘I just want justice for my baby’
For LaTonya Allen, what should have been a night of jubilation for her daughter’s 16th birthday instead led to a lifetime of anguish after the death of her 18-year-old son.
Phil was shot twice in the neck and died one month before his high school graduation. He had been looking forward to attending Jacksonville State University on a football scholarship.
His mother has been eagerly awaiting any updates about the investigation.
“I just want justice for my baby and all the other kids that were involved,” Allen told CNN on Monday. “They took away a piece of my heart, and I know the other mothers and fathers feel the same way.”
He helped save his sister from gunfire, then died
Alexis had been planning her Sweet 16 for months and started feeling “butterflies in my stomach” the day of the party, she told CNN.
She went to her brother — and sat down on his bed — to tell him she was nervous, Alexis recalled. Phil comforted her and assured her she would have fun.
Hours later at the party, their mother heard a rumor that someone at the venue was armed. Allen made a stern announcement over the speaker, she said: “If anyone in here has a gun, then you need to leave because we’re here to celebrate Alexis’ Sweet 16.”
Allen and other chaperones scoured the crowd for anyone carrying a gun but didn’t see one, the mom recalled. And Alexis, her mother and the DJ didn’t hear a fight or any disturbance, they said.
But right then, as the teens were partying to the music of a DJ, gunfire erupted.
“All I remember is my brother grabbing me and pushing me down to the ground,” Alexis said.
She fell into a puddle of blood.
Alexis got up and ran outside, where she reunited with her mom.
But Phil was nowhere to be found.
When the shooting stopped, mother and daughter went back inside.
Bodies of the injured and dying lay scattered across the dimly lit dance floor, they said.
The lights flicked on, and horror revealed itself to Alexis and her mom: Phil’s body was soaked in blood.
Alexis ran to comfort her big brother as he drifted in and out of consciousness.
“You’re going to make it. You’re strong,” she told Phil. “Don’t give up on me.”
But by the time first responders arrived, Alexis said, Phil was gone.
Now, Allen is left to deal with the torment no mother should have to endure, she said.
“It’s a nightmare that I don’t wish on any parent — to go in and to see my baby laying there in a pile of blood,” she said. “That was the worst thing that I could experience in my life.”
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