Two 19-Year-Olds Arrested After 5 Injured in Shooting in Ozark, Alabama

Two 19-year-old men have been charged with attempted murder after five people were shot on Tuesday evening in Ozark, Alabama.

Police arrested Lakevion Cerano Shider and Da'Mier Quadree Dontavius McDaniel in hiding in Clio, Alabama, after they fled the scene of the shooting at the intersection of Highway 231 and Andrews Avenue, near the Ozark McDonald's, police said.

Each suspect is being held in Dale County Jail on $1 million bond, WDHN reported.

The five male victims injured in the shooting were hospitalized. Two were taken to Southeast Health in critical condition, with one since released. The other three were treated at Dale Medical Center and released.

The shooting occurred at about 5:20 p.m. Tuesday, according to Ozark Police Chief Charles Ward, who said the five people injured were in the same vehicle on Andrews Avenue. A Chevrolet Silverado with two people inside pulled up to the intersection and started firing at a Hyundai Tucson, which had the five victims inside, WDHN reported.

A preliminary investigation showed that the shooting was the result of an ongoing dispute with one of the victims and the suspects, according to al.com.

The police investigation is ongoing.

Newsweek contacted the Ozark Police Department for comment.

Since January 1, 26 people in Alabama have died as a result of gunshots, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive.

In January, 2-year-old Kyler Small died from a self-inflicted gunshot after finding a family member's firearm, according to police.

Hueytown Police Department responded to a home in the 1400 block on 26th Avenue after being alerted to reports of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

They found that the toddler had been shot and started lifesaving efforts. The child was then taken to Children's of Alabama hospital in nearby Birmingham and was pronounced dead there.

After a police investigation, prosecutors "determined enough probable cause to charge the child's mother," Krishana Danyell Small, 23, with manslaughter.

Also in January, the husband of former Miss Mississippi Christine Kozlowski was shot to death in Montgomery.

According to court documents, 37-year-old Thomas Hand Jr., was shot in front of the couple's 2-year-old son.

Kozlowski, who was crowned Miss Mississippi in 2008, said her husband was shot on Texas Street.

Montgomery police arrested a 17-year-old, according to the Montgomery news station WSFA. The suspect faces capital murder charges in part because the shooting allegedly happened in front of a child.

The database also found that already in 2022, seven children have died from gunshot injuries nationwide.

The Gun Violence Archive data also showed that last year, there were 2,001 unintentional shootings in the U.S. In 2020, there were 2,324.

According to Everytown for Gun Safety, an organization that advocates for gun control, each year in America "18,000 children and teens are shot and killed or wounded and approximately 3 million are exposed to gun violence."

The organization said that firearms are "the leading cause of death for ages 1 to 19 in the United States."

Update 3/18/22, 4:46 p.m. ET: This story was updated with the arrest of two suspects and condition of the victims.

Correction 3/18/22, 4:46 p.m. ET: This story has been corrected to show that the shooting took place in Ozark, not Dothan, and it was at the intersection of Highway 231 and Andrews Avenue, near the Ozark McDonald's, not in front of it. The headline has been adjusted.