Alabama: In a shooting that broke out during a birthday party held inside a dance studio in the small Alabama town of Dadeville, at least four people were killed, including a high school football player, state police and local media reported on Sunday.

According to investigators on the scene, a local television station reported on Sunday that more than 20 people had been hurt in the shooting, which occurred about 60 miles (100 km) northeast of the state capital of Montgomery.

The shooting began just after 10:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, according to the authorities, who declined to answer questions or provide more information at a press conference on Sunday.

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A sergeant with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, Jeremy Burkett, stated, "We're going to continue to work in a very methodical way to go through this scene, to look at the facts, and make sure that justice is brought to bear for the families.

One of the four victims of the shooting, according to the Montgomery Advertiser newspaper, was a high school football player who was present at his sister's "Sweet 16" birthday party when the shooting started. Neither the information nor the identities of the other three victims could be independently verified by Reuters.

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In Dadeville, a town of about 3,000 people, the party was taking place inside the Mahogany Masterpiece Dance Studio, a former bank that was situated about a half-block from the city hall.

Officials did not disclose the circumstances surrounding the shooting or whether any suspects had been apprehended or killed, but Burkett asserted that there was no longer a threat to the neighbourhood.

What has happened to our country that kids can't go to a birthday party without getting scared? In a statement on Sunday, Vice President Joe Biden said.

In addition to calling the rising gun violence in the US "outrageous and unacceptable," Biden urged Congress to pass legislation that would increase the liability of gun manufacturers for gun violence, outlaw assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines, mandate safe storage of firearms, and establish background checks for gun sales.

At the press conference, Raymond Porter, the superintendent of Tallapoosa County Schools, announced that on Monday, counselling would be offered at local schools and urged local clergy to support families.

Don't forget that those kids are the ones most affected by this situation; we'll do everything we can to comfort them, Porter said.
According to a press release from the state law enforcement agency, the FBI, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and investigators from the neighbourhood prosecutor's office also responded to the scene.

Following two high-profile fatal mass shootings in nearby Tennessee and Kentucky within weeks of the shooting, local leaders urged tighter gun control regulations.

At the National Rifle Association (NRA), the nation's largest gun lobby, annual conference this weekend in Indiana, Republicans running for their party's presidential nomination in 2024 and other prominent party members sought to portray themselves as unwavering supporters of unrestricted gun rights.

At his place of business in Louisville, Kentucky, a bank employee last week shot five of his coworkers dead and nine others injuring. A former student murdered three 9-year-olds, three staff members, and three other students on March 27 at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee.

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According to the Gun Violence Archive, mass shootings have become commonplace in the US, with more than 163 incidents reported so far in 2023—the most at this stage of the year since at least 2016. A mass shooting, according to the nonprofit organisation, is one in which four or more people are hurt or killed, excluding the shooter.