The birthday girl at an Alabama party where four people were shot dead was saved by her brother who later died in her arms.
Alexis Dowdell was celebrating her 16th birthday at a dance studio in rural Dadeville when her 18-year-old brother Phil Dowdell came to get her after hearing that someone at the party had a gun.
Her mother, LaTonya Allen, had also heard the rumours. She said that she turned on the lights, went to the DJ booth, and asked whoever had a firearm to leave the party.
But when no one spoke up, she turned the lights back off.
The gunfire erupted shortly after. “All of a sudden you hear gunshots and you just see everybody running towards the door and people falling and screaming,” Alexis told the BBC.
Her brother Phil pushed her to the ground, she said, before the two became separated in the chaos.
She was able to escape the venue and took cover outside before someone came to help her up. Alexis said she hid behind another building in case the attacker was still on the loose.
When she eventually went back inside, she discovered that her brother had been shot.
He had lost a lot of blood. She stayed with him as he drifted in and out of consciousness. He was unable to talk, though he opened his eyes and raised his eyebrows as she cradled him in her arms.
“The last thing I told him was to stay strong,” she said.
She added that her birthday would never be the same.
Thirty-two others were injured in Saturday night’s attack at the party in Dadeville, a small, close-knit town of roughly 3,000.
Meanwhile, Police is yet to name a suspect or a motive and have urged the public to come forward with information
The US has seen more than 160 mass shootings so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines such events as ones in which four or more people are shot.
BBC/ Oluwayemisi Owonikoko
Subscribe to our Telegram and YouTube Channels also join our Whatsapp Update Group
pub-5160901092443552
Related Posts
