Suspect in AL Party Shooting was Being Monitored for Previous Shooting

At least 89 gunshots were fired from seven different weapons inside the 988-square foot, Dadeville, AL, dance studio, where at least 50 young people were gathered for a Sweet 16 birthday party that turned deadly on April 15, an investigator for the State Bureau of Investigations testified on Tuesday, according to multiple media reports.

The shooting left four dead – Philstavious “Phil” Dowdell, 18, Shaunkivia Nicole “Keke” Smith, 17, Marsiah Emmanuel “Siah” Collins, 19, Corbin Dahmontrey Holston 23 – at least six others in critical condition and 32 total injured.

Six people – three adults and three juveniles – have been arrested for the shooting, with each charged with four counts of reckless murder. Five of the six defendants were in court in Tallapoosa County on Tuesday for Aniah’s Law hearings to determine if bail should be granted. Aniah’s Law allowed the judge to rule that all six are to be held without bail, AL. com reports.

One defendant, who was not named in the hearing, was placed in Dadeville during the shooting because he was wearing an ankle monitor – a requirement of his bail for an arrest for yet another shooting that occurred in Tuskegee, according to al.com . 

SBI investigator Jesse Thornton was the lone witness during the hearing. He said at least seven handguns were reportedly used in the shooting. Only two were recovered, according to ALReporter.com .

Of those seven handguns, it is believed by investigators at least one, possibly two, were altered to have a “switch,” which allows a semi-automatic handgun to fire like a fully automatic weapon. Thornton said that information was based on witness and defendant testimony as well as how witnesses described the gunfire inside as “like a machine gun.”