A longstanding May Day celebration in Stockton, Alabama, ended in a mass shooting on the evening of May 11, 2024. Among the dead was 18-year-old Michael Shawnte Anderson Jr., who was caught in heavy gunfire that erupted after two groups approached each other. Nearly 50 rounds were fired from multiple guns during the chaos.

Investigators say the shooting was retaliatory, linked to an altercation a week earlier when an associate of Anderson reportedly struck Robert Brown Jr. with a bottle. Authorities allege Robert Jermaine Brown Jr. and Mac Arthur Adams were in one group and Michael Anderson Jr. in the other; Brown is believed to have fired first and Adams also discharged a weapon. Ballistics testing tied the same gun to the deaths of Anderson and another victim, 37-year-old Chiquita Ewing, an apparent innocent bystander.

The Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office arrested Mac Arthur Adams, 24, and Robert Brown Jr., charging both with murder; both are being held without bond. The investigation is ongoing and authorities say more arrests are possible. If anyone at the event knew Michael Anderson Jr. or saw what happened that night, please share information with investigators.