Alabama shooting: Phil Dowdell died saving sister's life
A teenager who was among four people killed in a mass shooting at a 16th birthday party in Alabama died saving his sister's life, say family.
Phil Dowdell, 18, pushed the birthday girl, Alexis Dowdell, to the ground as gunfire erupted during the celebration at a dance studio in the community of Dadeville.
"The last thing I told him was to stay strong," Alexis told the BBC.
Twenty-eight other people were injured in Saturday night's attack.
Phil had been planning to leave the bash and went to get his sister after he heard someone had a gun, his sister said.
Phil pushed Alexis down to ground as gunfire erupted, sparing her from being hit, she said.
Her dying brother was not able to talk, but he opened his eyes and raised his eyebrows while she held him in her arms, Alexis said.
Alexis and her mother, LaTonya Allen, told the BBC they did not know what led to the shooting.
Ms Allen said her son made her proud "in every way".
"A piece of my heart is ripped out," she said. "He was supposed to graduate next month. Instead of me going to graduation I'll be going to the cemetery to see my son."
Police have yet to name a suspect or a motive in the shooting in Dadeville, Alabama, a small close-knit town of roughly 3,000.
They have said nothing about how the gunfire was brought to an end or about the police investigation, but have urged the public to come forward with information.
The city's local pastor told the BBC the gunman was still at large.
Ms Allen said she believed the shooting was carried out by more than one person.
Shaunkivia Smith, 17, Marsiah Collins, 19, and Corbin Holston, 23, were also killed.
Relatives and friends of Ms Smith said she was a once-promising athlete who was also about to graduate from high school.
Mr Collins was a varsity football player who hoped to become a lawyer. Mr Holston came to the party to check on a family member once he heard trouble was brewing, his family said.
Ms Allen said before the shooting started she heard rumours that someone at the party had a gun.
So she turned on the lights and went to the DJ both and spoke into the microphone, asking whoever had a firearm to leave the party.
When no-one spoke up, she turned the lights back off, she said.
Shortly afterwards, chaos unfolded in the studio, Alexis said.
"All of a sudden you hear gunshots and you just see everybody running towards the door and people falling and screaming," she said.
Alexis said she was able to escape the dance studio. She hid for a while outside before someone came to help her up, and they went to hide behind another building in case the attacker was still on the loose, she said.
When she came back to the scene, the teenager said she found out her brother had been shot.
She said at that point her brother had lost a lot of blood, and she stayed with him while he drifted in and out of consciousness.
Jimmy Frank Goodman Sr, the mayor of Dadeville, told the BBC the scene at the hospital after the shooting was chaos, adding it was worse than what he witnessed during his time serving in Vietnam.
"There were people crying, bodies going into the emergency room and bloody clothes on the ground," he said.
The oldest of three siblings, Phil Dowdell was remembered by members of his community as a star athlete and a loyal friend. He was due to graduate to go to Jacksonville State University on a sports scholarship.
Alexis said she enjoyed watching her brother play football and sharing laughs with him. He always used to open the door for others and come into her room to apologise whenever the two of them had fought, she said.
She said her birthday will never be the same.
The flags outside Dadeville High School flew at half mast and a vigil was held for all four of the victims, attended by hundreds, including some who had been injured in the shooting.
Casey Davis, a deputy superintendent at the local board of education, said clergy and grief counsellors would be available to the community.
The Dadeville attack takes the US to a grim milestone of 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.
