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.

Thirty-two other people were injured in Saturday night's attack.

Alexis said Phil had gone to get her after hearing that someone had a weapon.

As gunfire erupted, he pushed her down to the ground before the two became separated in the melee, she added.

Later, when she found him again, Alexis said her dying brother had been unable to talk, though he opened his eyes and raised his eyebrows while she held him in her arms.

Alexis and her mother, LaTonya Allen, told the BBC they did not know what had 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, a small, close-knit town of roughly 3,000.

They have said little about the 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.

Shaunkivia Smith, 17, Marsiah Collins, 19, and Corbin Holston, 23, were also killed.

Relatives and friends of Ms Smith said she had been 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 had heard rumours that someone at the party had a gun.

So she turned on the lights and went to the DJ booth 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 was unleashed 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 told the BBC.

Alexis said she had been able to escape the venue. She took cover 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 returned to the scene, she 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 had been chaos, even worse than what he had witnessed during his time serving in the Vietnam War.

“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 had been due to go to Jacksonville State University on a sports scholarship.

Alexis said she had 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.

Her birthday would never be the same, she added.

The flags outside Dadeville High School have been lowered to half-mast. A vigil was held on Sunday for all four victims. Hundreds of people, including some who were injured in the shooting, attended.

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. (BBC, excluding headline)

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