A night out at Sykes Park in Talladega turned deadly Sunday when an argument among people attending an event in the park erupted into gunfire, leaving 25-year-old Nyles Ahmad Ashley dead and a 21-year-old resident wounded. Police are still searching for whoever opened fire, and no arrests have been announced.
According to al.com, the shooting happened at 6:42 p.m. Sunday at Sykes Park on Mardisville Road. Ashley was put in an ambulance and taken to Baptist Health Citizens Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the outlet reported. A separate timeline from WVTM 13 states that the Talladega County Coroner's Office was called to a fatal shooting around 7:20 p.m. on Mardisville Road, a discrepancy in timing that has not been resolved between the two accounts.
As first reported by WBMA, police officers were dispatched to Sykes Park at 830 Mardisville Road, where they found two victims: Ashley and a 21-year-old Talladega resident. The 21-year-old was treated for a non-life-threatening gunshot wound and released, the station's report notes.
Witnesses Describe Chaos as Shots Rang Out
Investigators said witnesses reported that several people were gathered at the park for an event when an argument broke out among attendees before multiple shots were fired. A vehicle at the scene was also struck multiple times during the gunfire, per the same account relayed by WBMA.
The Talladega Police Department and the Jacksonville State University Center for Applied Forensics both responded to investigate the scene, the station reported. The joint presence of the university's forensics unit points to the seriousness with which investigators are treating the evidence recovered from the park.
Autopsy Ordered, Investigation Continues
The Talladega County Coroner's Office sent Ashley's body to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences in Montgomery for an autopsy, according to WBRC. No further details about the cause of death have been released.
As of Tuesday, investigators continued to interview witnesses, and no other information was being released, al.com reported. A search for the suspect or suspects remains ongoing, and authorities have not identified anyone as a person of interest in the shooting.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Talladega detectives at 256-362-4508.
