ST. MARYS, Ga. — The St. Marys community is mourning the loss of 21-year-old Lancine Soumahoro.
He was killed in a shooting at the Cumberland Oaks apartments Saturday night.
Residents at the apartment complex put together two memorials for Soumahoro, with candles, balloons and posters with messages written to a man they say was loved by everyone in the neighborhood.
“This is my brother Lancine Soumahoro,” said Starasia Cruz, holding a picture of her younger brother who was shot and killed Saturday.
“9:30 we got the call from the neighborhood that my brother had been shot and we needed to hurry back and we came down here,” said Cruz. “Still haven’t seen my brother, haven’t heard nothing from police or anything. It’s just what we hear from the community.”
According to the St. Marys Police Department, around 9:17 p.m. Saturday, officers arrived at the Cumberland Oaks apartment complex.
They found Soumahoro on the ground with a gunshot wound and a 17-year-old boy suffering from a gunshot wound in the arm.
The 17-year-old was taken to a local hospital and was later taken to UF Shands Jacksonville with non-life-threatening injuries.
Soumahoro died from his injuries.
“We all know he was loved. We're gonna miss him. This really hurt us. All this gun violence hurt us,” said Cruz. “It doesn’t just hurt the family, it hurts everybody. Something has to be done.”
Now this tight-knit community at the Cumberland Oaks apartments is rallying behind this family, showing them the same love they say they always received from Lancine, also known by many as Lance.
“We used to call each other birthday twins but he was a good, nice person,” said Summer Atwells, a young neighbor.
“He was the neighborhood person, he was nice, the neighborhood is not gonna be the same without him,” said Jamell Watson, another young neighbor.
At this time, police have not identified any suspects and no arrests have been made.
Anyone with information on this shooting is asked to contact Detective Chris Winkle at (912) 882-4488 or the Georgia Bureau of Investigation at (912) 729-6198.