Thomas Robins Jr., was a former paramedic who had lived an adventurous life.
Tiffani Paige Grissett was the mother of three children and worked as a dancer at Teasers.
Cameron Eubanks was described as a “caring, loveable” college student who was working at his father’s nightclub.
Robins, Grissett, and Eubanks all died in a shooting late Thursday night at a Wicksburg nightclub.
The following is a glimpse at who each victim was:
A good mentor
Thomas Robins Jr. lived a life filled with stories and adventure.
Thursday night, the stories ended for the man known to friends and family as Rocky, his adventures tragically cut short by a gunman inside a Wicksburg night club.
Robins, 59, was born in Selma but moved to Dothan in the late 1970s, working during much of that time as a paramedic.
“We pretty much grew up together,” said Robin Rainer, Robins’ cousin. “We were very close. Neither one of us was originally from Dothan, but he ended up living just a few blocks from me.”
Robins was known among friends and family for his numerous jobs and travels throughout the years.
“He worked for a number years with ambulance services, and he spent time off shore working on oil rigs,” Rainer said. “He also spent several years working for the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. He had some unbelievable stories about that.”
Robins’ Facebook profile lists him as an employee of the Saudi Arabian National Guard from 1986 to 1996.
Dothan Fire Chief Larry Williams first met Robins 30 years ago when both were paramedics for Pilchers Ambulance.
“We spent a lot of hours responding to all types of issues in our city, growing together,” Williams said. “He taught me a lot about being a paramedic, compassion and taking care of people. He was a good mentor.”
For the last eight years, Williams and Robins have been next-door neighbors, an arrangement that only furthered their friendship.
“Rocky Robins was one of the most gracious, giving people I’ve ever met in my life,” Williams said. “He was a true giver in all senses of the word. He would let people stay in his home that did not have another place to stay while he was in other places. Even in the last few years, he would let people that had no home stay in his home with him. He was always there to give when you needed something.”
The Dothan Fire Department responded to the shooting when it occurred, but it was several hours later when Williams heard his friend had been killed.
“At about 3:30 this morning, I received notification one of the people killed was Rocky. I didn’t sleep the rest of the night,” Williams said. “It’s a tragic day for all his friends and family. It’s a tragic situation for a man who’s been a public servant his entire life, providing emergency medical services for the state of Alabama, for Dothan and abroad.”
Rainer said Robins had recently struggled with health problems.
“He had not worked in a few months because he had some heart problems and various things he was trying to get straightened out,” Rainer said.
Robins was well known for his kindness.
“Rocky was one of those kinds of guys that would do anything for anybody,” he said. “From what it sounded like, he was most likely trying to help when he got shot. That was the kind of guy he was. His mother moved down here and he took care of her. He was the kind of guy who would do anything to help anybody. He’d give you the shirt off his back and his last dollar.”
According to Rainer, Robins is survived by two brothers, a sister and a mother.
But the loss is also a personal one for Rainer.
“We stayed pretty close all our lives,” he said. “Rocky was just a fun guy to be with. He was genuinely kind and always a friend. And he had a lot of friends.”
A mother of three
Bri Wilkerson had been friends with 31-year-old Grissett for nearly 20 years, meeting her while they were in middle school.
Wilkerson said Grissett had lived a difficult life, but had never allowed hardship to harden her heart. Wilkerson said Grissett had an open, giving personality, and went out of her way to help her friends.
“She let somebody come stay with her because she found out she was sleeping in a car,” Wilkerson said. “…She had been through hell, but she came out amazing.”
Wilkerson said Grissett had several hobbies, including cooking and singing.
“She had the voice of an angel,” Wilkerson said.
Anna Mechling, who also worked at Teasers, said Grissett had been planning on getting married to Mark Tierce and moving.
“She was so in love with Mark and they were going to start a family in Texas,” she said.
Wilkerson and Grissett are godmothers of each other’s children. Wilkerson texted Grissett a picture of her new baby at 11:15 p.m. Thursday, shortly before the shooting occurred.
“She was so much more than a dancer,” Wilkerson said. “She was an amazing mother.”
The nightclub owner’s son
Friends of Cameron Eubanks said the 20-year-old was a good friend with an easy-going personality who enjoyed singing and was always ready with a joke to help lift their spirits when they were down.
“He liked to have a good time and hang out with his friends,” said Austin Lawhorn, a Wicksburg High School student.
Eubanks was a 2010 graduate of Wicksburg High School, where he played percussion in band. He had been a student at Northwest Mississippi Community College but returned to attend Wallace Community College. Friends said he wanted to be an actor.
“He had a great voice,” Kevin Bilbo said.
Bilbo, a Wicksburg High student, said he last saw Eubanks on Tuesday. They had watched “The Sitter” at Eubanks’ home.
“He was a really caring, loveable person,” Bilbo said. “The thing he loved the most were his family and friends.”
Mechling said Eubanks enjoyed socializing with customers at the club and was always very conscientious about his work.
“He never got caught up in the drama, but he always wanted to know what was going on in his daddy’s club.”