AHOSKIE, N.C. - The family of a young man is grieving and six other people are recovering after a violent weekend.
Police are continuing to investigate a mass shooting that took place early Saturday morning at a bar, killing one and injuring six others.
Around 1 a.m., police said they were dispatched to the Ahoskie Inn for a shooting at the Alaysia Bar & Grill. When they got to the location they saw a large crowd of over 100 people in the parking lot.
Officers found one man, 22-year-old Jairen Lyles of Aulander, N.C., that was fatally shot.
Of the six injured people that went to the hospital, five were shot and one had a leg injury from trying to run from the club where the shooting started.
News 3 spoke with the family of the man who was killed. Some of them are very emotional, others are still in shock. On Monday, they set out balloons at the very spot where Lyles' mother last saw him in his final moments.
His family says they held a vigil Sunday night in his memory. His grandfather tells News 3 that Jairen was always good for a joke.
Lyles' father said the last time he saw his son was Friday morning when he gave him a ride to work.
"He got up, got out of the car, he shook my hand and said, 'Dad, I love you.' I said, 'I love you too. You be safe.' He said, 'I’ll call you when I get off work,'" the father said.
Lyles also had a 2-year-old son, Cody. His mother said her son was already planning on what he would buy for her grandson for Christmas.
His mother described him as the kind of kid who would give you the shirt off his back. His grandmother, Helen Raynor, who says she spoiled him, just wants justice.
“Y'all killed my grandson like he was an animal or something. Y'all man enough to kill, man up and come forward so we can get justice. Won’t you all just do that for our family? For Jairen didn’t bother anybody. Jairen was a good boy. And he was my boy. Like I said just come forward so we can have some peace in our heart,” Raynor pleaded.
Police Chief James Asbell called the violence "senseless" and said this type of violence will not be tolerated in their community.
Anyone with any information is asked to call the Ahoskie Police Department at (252) 332-5011.
