A mass shooting at a birthday party in Dadeville, Alabama on Saturday (April 15) left four young people dead and over two dozen others injured. Since then, the local community has been grieving the loss of the four bright lights as others continue to fight and recover from injuries.

The four victims who died were identified by CNN yesterday (April 17). The oldest, Corbin Dahmontrey Holston, was a 23-year-old Dadeville native. Marsiah Emmanuel Collins was a 19-year-old football star and aspiring musician who was bound for Louisiana State University in the fall. Philstavious Dowdell was a senior at Dadeville High School, as was Shaunkivia “KeKe” Nicole Smith.

Collins’ father, Martin Collins, shared his grief with CNN. “Marsiah was optimistic and a loving person who cared about his family deeply,” Martin said. “He loved to spend time with his sisters, and he loved football.”

“I have my son’s picture over my bed,” he continued. “And to wake up now and see it and know my son is dead is devastating.” He also paid tribute to his late son with a touching tweet seen below.

Marsiah was good friends with Dowdell despite playing football for different high schools. “Football in Alabama connects the kids,” Martin explained. “Those kids did everything together. They would even go to each other’s high schools to watch each other play.”

Michael Taylor, an assistant football coach at Dadeville High School, was equally in shock over the events. He revealed that just weeks before he was killed, Dowdell approached him with a special request. “If anything ever happened to me, even when I go to college, take care of my two sisters,” the slain teen asked his coach.

City council member Teneeshia Goodman-Johnson said she knew Dowdell and two of the other victims. She lamented that they were smart “with very bright futures.”

“Very athletic, very humble children, very respectful children,” Goodman-Johnson remarked. “They just wanted to have fun, and that was taken from them.”

Smith was bound for the University of Alabama in the fall. She was also a student athletic manager on the Dadeville High School track team.

“It’s a very close, tight-knit community… Everybody knows everybody. That’s why this is so difficult,” local pastor Ben Hayes, who also serves as the chaplain for the Dadeville High School football team, mourned. “I knew these kids personally. Most people did.”

The shooter responsible for the massacre remains at large.