Four teenagers die in shooting at ‘sweet sixteen’ in Alabama, including brother of birthday | Instagram VTM NEWS

At a press conference earlier on Sunday, authorities gave no information about the shooter or shooters and did not say whether any arrests have been made. However, a police spokesperson said that there is no longer a threat to the community.

According to local media, the shooting allegedly took place at a teenager’s 16th birthday party in Dadeville, about 70 kilometers from Montgomery, the Alabama capital. One of the fatal victims was the brother of the birthday boy. According to the DJ who played at the party, there was no fighting or commotion before the shooting. He told that to the American news channel ‘CNN’. “It’s really sad to see all the kids who were shot and those who died,” he said. “And to see all those bodies at the front door, all those kids are probably going to be traumatized.”

“This morning I mourn with the people of Dadeville and my fellow Alabamans,” Alabama Governor Kay Ivey told CNN. “Violent crime has no place in our state, and we will be kept informed by law enforcement as details become known.” Police are not releasing details about the shooter or a possible motive.

Fifteen teenagers were taken to hospital with gunshot wounds, six of them have already been released from the hospital. So said Heidi Smith, spokesperson for Lake Martin Community Hospital. According to the latest state of affairs, five of the nine teenagers currently still in hospital are in critical condition. The remaining four would be stable. Another hospital nearby also received some injuries.

US President Joe Biden lashed out in a statement on Sunday at gun advocacy organization NRA and Republican politicians who support the gun lobby. “How did it get to the point in this country where children can no longer go to a birthday party without being afraid? That parents worry every time their children go out to school, the cinema or the park? This is shocking and unacceptable.”

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Shootings in the US have again been in the news in recent weeks. Yesterday, a shooting took place in a Kentucky park that left two dead and four wounded. Earlier this week, five people were killed when a 23-year-old man opened fire in a bank in Louisville, Kentucky. In late March, a school shooting occurred in Nashville, Tennessee. Six people were killed, including three children aged 8 and 9.

There have already been at least 162 mass shootings in the United States in the first 15 weeks of 2023, according to Gun Violence Archive, a non-profit organization that catalogs every shooting in the US. That’s an average of more than one and a half mass shootings per day so far this year, CNN writes. Gun Violence Archive defines a shooting incident as a mass shooting when four or more people are shot, not counting the shooter.

A report that was recently published highlights the gun problem in the US. One in five adults in the country has a family member who died from a firearm, the figures show. There is talk of a weapons epidemic that is gaining momentum and deadlier than ever before.