The Mount Vernon community is mourning the loss of a 19-year-old teen who was killed earlier this week.

Shomari Knox was shot and killed early Wednesday at South Ninth Avenue and West Third Street. The Mount Vernon Police Department has swarmed the area since the shooting, which was the city's seventh slaying this year and the second in the past week.

Knox's aunt, Maryann Lawrence, says she is in shock over her nephew's shooting. "I can't imagine someone would want to take the life of Shomari," Lawrence says.

Lawrence says Knox, who would have become a father in a few weeks, was attending college and studying real estate. Knox's family believes the alleged shooter could be someone who was looking for revenge over a prior grievance with Knox.

Mount Vernon Mayor Clinton Young says he plans to keep close tabs on the search for the suspect while away on a business trip to Italy.