Three Anniston teens arrested in Gadsden nightclub shootings

Robert  Thornton,         Deantae Brown        Johnnie Dunn

Three Anniston teens have been arrested in connection with last weekend's fatal nightclub shooting in Gadsden.

According to Gadsden Police Cpt. Bobby Jackson, 19-year-old Robert Sydariou Deanthony Thornton and two juveniles are charged with murder in the shooting death of 17-year-old Anthony Hale Jr., who was one of four Gadsden teens shot early Saturday morning outside Club Status.  Gadsden police did not release the identities of the two 17-year-olds, but jail records show that Johnnie Dunn and Deantae Brown also are charged with murder. Anyone booked into the jail, according to jail officials, is being charged as an adult. 

All three suspects are being held in the Etowah County Jail on $100,000 bonds.

Heflin police arrested Thornton and one of his teen accomplices during a traffic stop after recognizing the pair as suspects wanted for murder in Gadsden.

Hale, according to investigators, was an innocent bystander when gunfire erupted outside the club shortly after it closed around midnight. Police said the shooting stemmed from "several fights" inside the club that continued outside, where the feuding teens were engaged in "trash talk."

Hale was taken to UAB Hospital, where he later died. The other shooting victms, one of whom was shot in the leg and another shot in the buttocks, sustained non-life threatening injuries.