HENRY COUNTY, Ga. — A small community is in mourning after a shocking mass shooting over the weekend left four people in a Hampton subdivision dead, in an incident some have called the saddest time in the 150-year history of the town.
A vigil was held Monday at 7:30 p.m. at Terry Jones Depot Park in Hampton.
The four victims were identified over the weekend as 66-year-old Shirley Leavitt, her husband 67-year-old Scott Leavitt, 65-year-old Steve Blizzard and 66-year-old Ron Jeffers.
All four lived in the Dogwood Lakes subdivision, where the shooting unfolded Saturday before a manhunt ended with law enforcement killing suspect Andre Longmore in a shootout on Sunday.
"The last 36 hours have been very sad and surreal for this community," Hampton City Manager Alex Cohilas said over the weekend. "We had no idea that tragedy would befall this tranquil and peaceful community. Yesterday will certainly go down as one of the saddest in the 150-year history of this city. We tragically lost four citizens and this community is grieving."
Jeffers attended Pinecrest Baptist Church. Services on Sunday focused on prayers for his family, and remembering his compassion.
"God, I beg you to pour out your grace on this family today," Jody Wentz, an associate pastor at the church, prayed. "Thank you for the testimony of Brother Ron, the kindness he treated others with, the song that he had in his heart and that he shared with others."
A neighbor, Larry Pritchard, said the shooting was a "blow in the gut."
He said he and Blizzard were both veterans of the U.S. military, and would often wave hello to each other.
Tom Hannegan and Donald Smith live a house away from Blizzard.
"We had a really close relationship with Steve... because we were only two doors down from him. Waving at him when he comes home from work, he waves at us when he comes home from work. We saw him every day," Smith said.
Smith added he's still trying to grasp the fact that his friend and neighbor is gone.
Both Smith and Hannegan said Blizzard was a fixture in the community.
"[Blizzard and Jeffers] were good people," said Hannegan, who was also friends with Jeffers. "They cared about the community. They cared about their neighbors. They were just good people."
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Community members who spoke with 11Alive along Main Street were still struggling to believe what had happened.
Frankie Worth was in the Dogwood Lakes neighborhood early Saturday morning when a jump scare shook him.
"I heard 'Pow!' When I heard that one single shot, I kind of jumped back," Worth said as he watched from the window, explaining he was afraid he was going to be next. "I saw my man's arms rise up in the sky, then he dropped his arms back down and I thought he was going to take a second shot. The only thing that had me shook was just how cool and collected he was about the whole thing."
Henry County Sheriff Reginald B. Scandrett, announcing the end of the manhunt Sunday, declared, "The monster is dead."