Ty Reik and Travis McCullough: Teens, 16 and 17, arrested over 'Sweet 16' Dadeville mass shooting
DADEVILLE, ALABAMA: In connection to the mass shooting in Alabama on Saturday night, April 15, two teen suspects have been arrested. Dadeville authorities announced the arrest of Travis McCullough, 16, and Ty Reik McCullough, 17 following the 'Sweet 16' birthday party tragedy where four young people were killed and 32 others were injured.
On Tuesday night, April 18, the teen was taken into custody and each of them faces four counts of reckless murder charges.
"Make no mistake this is Alabama. If you pull out a gun and you start shooting people – we’re going to put you in jail," said Sgt Jeremy Burkett of the Alabama law enforcement agency reported NY Post.
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Suspects will face additional charges
During a press conference on Wednesday, Burkett said, "Please understand, with the violence that went on and the magnitude of what happened, we are absolutely still in the early stages of the investigation," and also added, "This is the beginning, this is not the end. There is a tremendous amount of work that is yet to be done." According to Mark Sergist, Tallapoosa District Attorney, additional charges are pending. Within the next 72 hours, the teens from Tuskeegee will have a bond hearing while the state has suggested the suspects be held with no bond.
Corbin Holston, 23, Marsiah Collins, 19, Phil Dowdell, 18, and Keke Nicole Smith, 17, were the fatal victims of the mass shooting on Saturday night that shocked the town of Dadeville. The victims were "very athletic, very humble children, very respectful children. They just wanted to have fun, and that was taken from them," said City Council member Teneeshia Goodman-Johnson. As of Wednesday, four victims who remain hospitalized are listed as critical, reported Independent.
'There’s an uncut cake and unburnt birthday candles'
During the press conference, Serigist said, "We are going to make sure every victim gets justice, not just the deceased. Even though these are 16 and 17-year-olds, we are going to charge them as adults." While talking about the case development, Sergist said that some of the shooting victims were the children of his friends. "There’s an uncut cake and unburnt birthday candles that never got lit,” he said. “I know some of these victims personally. These are my kids, these are our kids, you don’t mess with our kids," he said.