WRBL, a local news station, reported that the shooting happened at about 10.30pm on Saturday night at a 16th birthday party in Dadeville, about 50 miles (80km) north-east of Montgomery.
Pastor Ben Hayes, who serves as the chaplain for the Dadeville police department and for the local high school football team, said most of the victims are teenagers. Dowdell was within weeks of graduation and faced a bright future, Hayes told the Associated Press.
It was not immediately known if a suspect was in custody.
Investigators believe an altercation had led to the shooting at the Mahogany Masterpiece dance studio, WRBL reported.
More than 12 hours after the shooting, investigators continued filing in and out of the Mahogany Masterpiece dance studio on Sunday.
City and county officials milled about the Tallapoosa county courthouse less than a block away, where officials lowered the American and Alabama flags to half-staff.
In 2022 Ivey signed a bill into law which ended the requirement for a person to obtain a permit to legally carry a concealed handgun in public. The National Rifle Association (NRA) had lobbied for the bill to be passed.
Alabama has the third highest rate of gun deaths in the US, according to a 2020 report by Everytown, an organization which works to improve gun safety and end gun violence.
President Joe Biden has been briefed on the shooting, the White House said, adding that it is closely monitoring the situation and has been in touch with local officials and law enforcement to offer support.
This is at least the second time in recent years that multiple people were shot in Dadeville. Five people were wounded in July 2016 during a shooting at an American Legion hall, and a man was later charged with five counts of attempted murder, news outlets reported.
The latest shooting comes as two people were killed in a shooting in Louisville, Kentucky, on Saturday night, days after a gunman shot and killed five people in the city.
Associated Press reported that an unidentified suspect fired a gun into a crowd of hundreds in Chickasaw Park in Louisville, killing two people and wounding four others.
On Monday five people were killed when a man opened fire with an assault-style rifle at the Louisville bank where he worked. Eight others were wounded.
