UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — Prince George’s County Police are still looking for a motive and the person who fired gunshots after a vigil for three former Wise High school football players. The shots injured a woman and killed a young father.
Shahid Omar Jr., a 24-year-old from Upper Marlboro, was attending the vigil to remember his best friends. Now, his family is left wondering why he was taken too soon.
Yvonne and Travis Clarke said friends and family have been keeping vigil at the family home since news of their son's death.
“It’s an out of body experience is the best way to explain it," Yvonne Clark said. "I feel depleted broken like there’s a hole in my heart."
Omar was a kind-hearted generous child who became a doting dad. His 2-year old daughter Aylani turns three in August. A baby boy is due in September. But the day before the baby shower, Omar lost his life. He was killed, according to police, as the crowd dispersed from a Friday night vigil at Wise High School for three alumni who died in a crash -- Vikings rookie Khyree Jackson, Isaiah Hazel and Anthony "AJ" Lytton Jr.
“They were all really close since middle school and they all hung out here," Yvonne Clark said. "They all were mourning all week and my son was devastated by it. He was saying how his friends didn’t have any children to leave behind, but he was glad he had a legacy. And he was right -- his legacy at 24 is his children.”
Prince George’s County Police said the shooting happened thirty seconds after officers left the school, returning to find a young woman shot and Omar fighting for his life.
“I only followed the ambulance to the hospital and got to see a stretcher going by with my son,” Yvonne Clark said before she started crying. 'That’s my last thought of him, on a stretcher and I just yelled out, ‘I’m here and I love you!' His life was taken from his children, from us, from his grandmother. We all adored him."
Yvonne said neighbors and strangers alike have been stopping by to share stories of the impact Omar made in their lives.
“I woke up Saturday morning and I looked and was saying to myself, ‘why are all these people here? why is all this food here?” Omar's father, Travis Clarke, said. "And I had to remind myself, they’re here because my son died."
Travis Clarke said that feeling wasn't one he would wish on anyone.
"I don’t want any other parents have to sit in front of a camera and do an interview because their son was taken senselessly," Travis Clarke added. "When are we going to stop? When are we going to realize enough is enough? It makes no sense. Why do we keep killing each other for no reason at all?"