A party with several hundred people in attendance at a private event venue in Pike County ended with one man dead.

The shooting happened just before 12:30 a.m. Sunday Hideaways on Gardner Bassett Road.

“We knew there was a huge party being planned,” Pike County Sheriff Russell Thomas said. “It was well-advertised. We had seen the flyers.”

“We were very concerned,” Thomas said. “And what we were afraid of happened.”

The sheriff said there were 300 to 350 people inside the venue when shots rang out inside the party.

The victim, a male in 20s from Dothan, made it to the front door where he collapsed and was pronounced dead a short time later.

Two deputies were nearby and were quickly on the scene, Thomas said.

“Once the shooting started, it was a mass exodus,” he said. “Everybody got in their cars and left.”

Investigators remained on the scene until about 6 a.m., processing evidence and trying to gather information.

No arrests have been made.

Because the event center is private, the owners are not required to have a business license or a liquor license.

Those running the event are from Birmingham, he said, and attendees were from all over central and south Alabama, including Montgomery, Mobile and Dothan.

“It’s a really tough deal,” he said. “Everybody was from out of town.”

“It is just tragic to see a young man lose his life over something that could have been prevented,” Thomas said. “When you start mixing marijuana and alcohol and young people, that’s a recipe for bad things to happen.”

Thomas is calling for regulation on such events or parties at private venues.

“We need the legislature to step in,” he said, “because these things are happening all over the state.”

Thomas asked anyone with information to call the sheriff’s detectives at 334-566-4347.

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