BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — Three people now face charges in the Dadeville mass shooting and law enforcement says more charges could be coming.
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency says 20-year-old Wilson Hill Jr., 17-year-old Tyreese McCullough and 16-year-old Travis McCullough all face four counts of reckless murder in a shooting at Sweet 16 party on Broadmax Street Saturday night.
Alexis Dowdell, the teen celebrating her birthday, lost her brother Phil in the shooting and says she doesn’t know the suspects.
Though some people were left frustrated and confused by the lack of answers from police during the Dadeville shooting investigation, some attorneys say ALEA’s methodical, tight-lipped approach was the right way to go.
“They’re being very, very careful to make sure they don’t give anything that will help this 16- and 17-year-old get off on these charges,” Attorney Eric Guster said. “They want to make sure [the suspects] get a fair trial and make sure the victims get a fair trial as well.”
Guster believes it’s likely the three men charged weren’t shooting at anyone at the party and were just shooting randomly. He says we will probably see more charges on the three men as the investigation continues.
“You have multiple people who are injured, those would be assaults, attempted murders, those types of charges will be charged against them. So those charges will be piled on with them as well,” Guster said. “What they’re doing right now is waiting to make sure that no other victims pass away. They want to see what the injuries were.”
The Alabama Moms Demand Action chapter says there isn’t a chance to catch your breath anymore between mass shootings. Ellen Melson is one voice among many in the organization who wants the violence to stop.
“It’s disturbing isn’t it to hear that we’re losing 94 children a year in the state of Alabama alone due to gun violence,” Ellen Melson said. “That’s exactly the type of thing that we’re working to prevent and that’s why we exist. Because we want to see a reduction in these gun violence deaths.”
Moms Demand Action says it’s working to have the legislature pass ‘commonsense’ gun laws, unlike the “permitless carry” which it says had all 67 sheriffs in the state against it.
“If they haven’t seen us yet at their door, they will. If they haven’t heard from us yet on the phone, they will. If they haven’t gotten mail from us, they will,” says Melson. “We’re coming. We’re coming and we’re mad.”
The gun violence prevention organization Everytown says Alabama has the fourth highest rate of gun violence in the country with 84% of homicides involving a gun.
