DETROIT – A 14-year-old boy has been shot and killed on Detroit’s east side.

The boy’s life was cut short while walking home from East English Village Preparatory Academy (The Ville) at Finney High School on Wednesday (May 22) afternoon off the I-94 Service Drive near King Richard Street.

The shooting sparked a massive investigation and search for the shooter as friends of the teen said he was a good student who was very popular, which has everyone confused as to why he was killed and left in a vacant lot.

In the past few hours, Local 4 learned neighbors believe there was only one shooter.

Police still have a lot to piece together before fully understanding how the teen ended up dead.

Detroit police, along with the sheriff’s department and Michigan State Police, were on the scene quickly, but it was too late as the 14-year-old boy had been shot and killed in a vacant lot.

Neighbors who fear reprisals and don’t want to be on camera told Local 4 a group of teens who aren’t usually in the area appeared to be hanging out. They said there was no friction until they suddenly heard raised voices and gunshots.

Neighbors said they saw one shooter and one gun, and after the bullets stopped, the 14-year-old boy was dead.

Officials say he and some of the other teens who were out there with him were students at the same high school.

They were less than a mile from the school when the shooting happened, and school staff, including the principal and the dean, rushed over there.

Multiple teens have been taken into custody for questioning, but it is unclear if they have the shooter in custody.