Sweet 16 DJ said partygoers told someone had a gun before shooting

Before shots rang out at an Alabama Sweet 16 party Saturday night — leaving four dead and 28 wounded — there were rumors among party-goers that someone in attendance had a gun, the party’s DJ said.

“They mentioned someone had a gun,” DJ Keenan Cooper told local ABC affiliate station WBMA. “They stopped the party for a second, asked them to leave, nobody left and the party continued.”

An hour later, at about 10:30 p.m., the gunman opened fire inside the downtown Dadeville dance studio.

The joyful birthday party of about 40 to 50 people quickly turned into a chaotic and terrifying nightmare as party-goers ran for their lives.

Cooper said he helped teens hide under the table where he was doing his DJ set.

“I only tried to help who was in front of me, so I had a lot of people under the table and beside me trying to protect them,” he told the local station.

“After everybody ran out, I made sure they were ok and that’s when I came out and the police arrived.”

Two of the four dead have been identified as the older brother of the birthday girl and a high school athlete. Phil Dowdell and KeKe Nicole Smith, both seniors at Dadeville High School, were killed.

Dowdell, the birthday girl Alexis’ brother, recently committed to playing wide receiver at Jacksonville State University and was called “the No. 1 athlete in the school” by Dadeville High’s assistant football, basketball and track coach Michael Taylor.

More than two dozen people were injured in the frantic scene, including Dowdell’s mother, who was shot twice.

Police have not released any information on the suspect in the mass shooting other than to say the gunman is no longer a threat to the community. They have not revealed any information on a possible motive either.