DJ at deadly Dadeville birthday party shooting protects students during shooting

Four people were killed and multiple people are injured after a mass shooting late Saturday night in Tallapoosa County.

READ MORE: Four dead, several others injured after shooting at birthday party in Dadeville

Keenan Cooper was the DJ at the party. He said he believes around 40 or 50 people were in attendance when the shooting happened.

"It wasn't anything you could pretty much see because the lights were off. They mentioned someone had a gun. They stopped the party for a second, asked them to leave, nobody left and the party continued," he said.

An hour later the shooting began.

Cooper said, "I only tried to help who was in front of me, so I had a lot of people under the table and beside me trying to protect them" he added "after everybody ran out, I made sure they were ok and that's when I came out and the police arrived."

"I'm just distraught for the kids" he said.

Ben Hayes has many roles in the Dadeville community.

He is the senior pastor at First Baptist Church Dadeville, the Chaplin for the Dadeville Police Department and Chaplin for the Dadeville high school football team.

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"When I got to the hospital there were probably 250-300 people waiting there waiting to hear news about their loved one. Watched as one of the momma got the news her son had died. Very emotional, very traumatic," he said.

Limited information about the victims have been released but Hayes said one of the victims killed was a high school football star with a bright future ahead.

He added, "this is a major loss to Dadeville."

Counseling services are planned for Tallapoosa County Schools students and first responders on the scene.

A press conference will be held later on Sunday with an update from law enforcement.