Bibb County deputies responded to house of mass shooting day before it happened

BIBB COUNTY, Ala. ( WIAT ) — New details are coming out about the mass shooting in Bibb County on July 18 .

The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office responded to the same house the day before the shooting.

“Can you look up that address and see if it’s the same address from last night, please?” a deputy asks in the dispatch call.

“10-4. I think so,” a dispatcher said. “I see where they said something about why he didn’t take somebody to jail last night. I’m assuming this is what went on last night.”

Robert Turner Jr., the district attorney for the Alabama’s 4th Judicial Circuit, also confirmed deputies responded to a call at the home July 17.

Turner said, however, he doesn’t know the details of that call. Turner said investigators are working to find out if the responding officers the day before the shooting had turned their body cameras on during the call because it was not believed to be about criminal activity.

“That is a part of the ongoing investigation. Just to see if we can go back a few days before, and as far as we know, maybe months or years before to determine what the history was between this particular defendant, his family and mental health,” Turner said. “But it’s far too early for us at this stage to make a determination as to what led up to these tragic events.”

“We’re trying to get information from the caller,” a dispatcher said in the call. “All he’s saying is someone shot all of his grandchildren.”

The man accused of shooting and killing four children and his wife, 32-year-old Brandon Kendrick, pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease at a court hearing Monday .

“All units responding be advised the shooter is at his residence armed with a 10-32,” a dispatcher said. “The shooter is at his residence armed with a 10-32.”

According to Kendrick’s grandfather, Pastor Allan Kendrick at Oasis of Praise church, mental illness is something Kendrick suffered with since he was a little boy. Allan Kendrick said his grandson had disability coverage through Medicaid, which was taken away when he was 18.

Allan Kendrick said the medication Brandon Kendrick needed was too expensive to pay for out of pocket. The pastor said he has been advised not to speak about what happened July 18 but hopes to be able to share what he saw and experienced soon.

“The caller just disconnected. He advised all four grandbabies and their mother had been shot in the head,” a dispatcher said on the original call. “He believes one baby and the mother may still be alive. He has the 32. Subject is still in his bathroom.”

The five victims in this shooting are 24-year-old Kelse Kendrick, who was Brandon Kendrick’s wife, the couple’s two young children and two other young relatives.

Turner said Kendrick will be given a mental evaluation to see if he was in sound mind when the shooting took place and to determine if he is stable enough to withstand further court proceedings.

“If we go down the road and this is a case where there is a mental illness that might have affected this young man, and like I said, it’s far too early for us to make that decision right now or offer that opinion,” Turner said. “But there is a mental health crisis nationwide that I think the state needs to address, and we need to address as a country.”

A memorial service for Kelse Kendrick took place in Bessemer on Thursday.

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