(CNN) A mass shooting tied to a birthday party has left four people dead and “several” injured in Dadeville, Alabama, state officials said.
The shooting happened around 10:34 p.m. Saturday, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said Sunday.
“It was tied to a birthday party,” Sgt. Jeremy J. Burkett said. “There were four lives tragically lost in this incident, and there were many injuries.”
Burkett declined to provide further details, citing the ongoing investigation.
One of the victims who was killed was a member of the Dadeville High School football team, said Ben Hayes, senior pastor of Dadeville’s First Baptist Church.
Hayes also served as chaplain for the Dadeville police and the Dadeville High School football team. He said the police chief asked him to go to Lake Martin Community Hospital to help control the crowd and manage the students who had gathered.
“It’s a very close-knit, tight-knit community,” Hayes told CNN’s Isabel Rosales. “Everybody knows everybody. That’s why it’s so hard because it, it affects everybody in the community.”
Hayes said students told him the shooting happened at a “Sweet 16” birthday party.
“I personally know these children. Most people do,” the pastor said.
Among those gathered at the hospital, “There was a lot of sadness, a lot of concern on the faces,” Hayes said.
“I think at this point it’s a shock,” he said. “I think maybe the anger will come. I think it’s just a matter of time to see how people respond to it.
A prayer vigil will be held at 5 p.m. Sunday outside the First Baptist Church, Hayes said.
“What we’re dealing with is something the community shouldn’t have to put up with,” Dadeville Police Chief Jonathan L. Floyd said Sunday.
“I also ask each of you please do not let this opportunity to explain what you think about the city of Dadeville and our good people.”
Dadeville, population 3,000, is about 45 miles northeast of Montgomery.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey publicly sent his condolences to the community. “This morning, I express my condolences to the people of Dadeville and to my fellow Alabamians,” Ivey said in a statement to CNN.
“Violent crime has NO place in our state, and we’ll keep law enforcement updated as details emerge.”
The shooting in Alabama happened on the same day that shots were fired into a crowd at a park in Louisville, Kentucky. Two people were killed and four were injured.
The US suffered at least 162 mass shootings in the first 15 weeks of 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive. That’s an average of more than 1.5 mass shootings per day so far this year.
The archive describes mass shootings where four or more people are shot, not including the shooter.
CNN’s Joe Sutton contributed to this report.