Neighbors, community members mourn loss of two children after fatal Fort Worth shooting
FORT WORTH, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Young kids are known to be outside playing, but on Monday things were far from normal, not many people were outside.
Several people in the Fort Worth community showed support to family of victims in Sunday's shooting on Steel Dust Drive, in the form of a small memorial outside of their house.
"Rayshard, We were outside playing and he asked me if we can go upstairs and get a toy, and the toys that were upstairs I brought em, over here for him because he would always play with them," one woman who lives nearby said.
People who live along Steel Dust Drive in Fort Worth are still in disbelief.
5-year-old Rayshard Scott and 17-year-old Jamarrien Monroe were identified by the Tarrant County Coroner's Office as two of the victims who were shot and killed Sunday. An 18-month-old baby boy was also injured but police said he's expected to survive.
"It's just hard, you know," a nearby neighbor said. "We're really attached to the kids because they're always around with us, playing with the kids. They were always over our house. It's just really sad."
This close-knit community is visibly different after Sunday's incident.
"Our kids, they're inside and they are terrified, I think the oldest, our teenager she's crying her butt off because she knows them so well, that it hit her so hard," the woman who lives nearby said.
Scott had just started Kindergarten at Bryson Elementary School. Monroe used to attend Boswell and Watson High Schools.
"The 17-year-old will never graduate, the 5-year-old will never graduate from kindergarten," Fort Worth Police Department Chief Neil Noakes said. "That 18-month-old will have physical and emotional scars and they stay with him for the rest of his life."
Eagle Mountain-Saginaw ISD released a statement saying in part, "Our hearts are heavy for the family and friends affected."
"My kids are grieving pretty bad," the neighbor said. "They didn't go to school today. Especially the older ones, they're the ones who know the family more, a lot more."
The district also said they would have counselors on site to help if anyone need them and they said they increased security presence at all schools.
Meanwhile, people who live in the area where the shooting happened said they're afraid as police continue to search for those responsible.
"Our kids are always running outside, playing and now our kids aren't safe outside, we're not even letting out kids come outside," she said.
Fort Worth police said they are looking into this shooting to see if it's gang related. They are asking for anyone with information or doorbell footage to come forward.