Gunman opens fire at teen’s birthday party in Dadeville

DADEVILLE — As the sun rose in Alabama on Sunday, police continued to swarm downtown Dadeville, piecing together evidence from a Saturday night mass shooting.

Investigators spent the night working the crime scene in the old Bank of Dadeville, a brick building at 220 N. Broadnax St. that was converted two years ago into Mahogany Masterpiece dance studio.

Teenagers gathered at the studio Saturday night to celebrate a birthday. Gunfire erupted just after 10:30 p.m.

For more than eight hours after the incident, law enforcement released no details about the shooting, the victims or the suspect. Dadeville was trending on social media, where an image that showed six people collapsed inside a venue circulated amid pleas from some users to take down the image.

Still other users on social media recorded video at a nearby hospital where families waiting for news on injured loved ones.

Investigators early Sunday pieced together evidence of a mass shooting in the old Bank of Dadeville, a brick building at 220 N. Broadnax St. that was converted two years ago into Mahogany Masterpiece dance studio.

Ashley Hill lives in Opelika, but she traveled to downtown Dadeville with two other women after hearing about the shootings to find out whether a friend of the family was safe. “Babies — very devastating,” she said of the teens that had gathered for a birthday party, shaking her head.

Hill said the small town of Dadeville doesn’t have the violence of big cities. Dadeville, the county seat of Tallapoosa County in East Central Alabama, has a population of just more than 3,000 people.

But Dadeville was rocked by at least one prior mass shooting when a gunman on Aug. 28, 2016, wounded five people during a party at the American Legion Hall.

Police cordoned off several blocks near the crime scene Saturday night, including North Broadnax Street between Green and Columbus streets, and part of Cusseta Street. The strip includes professional services, a furniture store, PNC Bank and the Tallapoosa County Courthouse, which houses county services including the probate office.

This is a developing story. As we gather more information, we will update our coverage.

Alex Gladden is the public safety reporter for the Montgomery Advertiser. She can be reached at agladden@gannett.com. 

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Gunman opens fire at teen’s birthday party in Dadeville