Anniston Police Chief: 6 people shot at graduation party

ANNISTON, Ala. (WBRC) - Six people were shot during a graduation party for Anniston High School students in Anniston early Friday morning, May 27, 2022, according to Anniston Police Chief Nick Bowles.

Some Anniston High School students had the graduation party at a motorcycle clubhouse on 1204 Front Street.

Bowles said 150 people (ranging in age from 14 to 20) attended the party, and not everyone was from the high school. Some people were from surrounding areas.

The chief said there were so many people at the party law enforcement officers had to deal with traffic, and loud music issues throughout the night.

Nothing violent happened until about 1:00 a.m. when fights broke out. Officers said gunfire was exchanged. Seven people were injured and six of them were shot. All of the injuries were non-life threatening according to Chief Bowles.

Multiple vehicles were hit from stray bullets and APD officers are still receiving those reports. Dozens of shell casings were recovered from the scene and are being submitted for processing. Several firearms were recovered from the scene and are being processed by the APD crime lab.

“We have to change this culture of going to gun violence. It’s absolutely getting out of control in our communities and we got to start. By the time the police get there it’s too late. We can’t do anything except react to the scene and we can’t raise your children so we really got change this culture of going to guns first,” said Anniston Police Chief Nick Bowles.

“Life is not a video game. This is not “Call of Duty” where you get to respond when your life gets taken. This is life. You’re taking someone’s child away from them. Somebody’s future parent away from them. Somebody’s son. Somebody’s daughter. Nieces and nephews. You die. You go home and look at your mom everyday and say you might not be coming back today because I’m going to this party. That’s the sad reality is that the other people on the other side of that gun aren’t thinking about that. They aren’t thinking about their lives. Them sitting in prison doesn’t bring the other people back.”

“Step one is telling us what happened. Telling us the truth about what happened. Turn over any video that you have on your phone of what happened. You might not know who these people are in the video, but we can go and find out who these people are. So it’s important to get involved and help us make this community safer for you, your family and your future family. If we all ban together nobody can stop a community or a city or county that bans together.”

This case is active and ongoing. If you have any additional information or videos, please contact the Anniston Police Investigative Division at 256-240-4000.

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