Vigil Planned For Maplewood Teen (UPDATED)

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — Friends of former Columbia High School soccer player Moussana Fofana —who was shot to death on the school's athletic complex on Sunday, prosecutors said — will hold a candlelight vigil on Saturday night for the teen.

[UPDATE: At Vigil For Slain Maplewood Teen, Community Wants Answers]

On a GoFundMe page that was started this week for Mofana's family, soccer teammate Frederik Hoffman posted Thursday, "There will be a candlelight service to honor and celebrate the life of Moussa Fofana on Saturday, June 12, on Ritzer Field at Columbia High School at 7:30 p.m. The whole community is welcome to attend this event. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me through the GoFundMe page. Long live Moussa."

According to prosecutors and school officials, last Sunday, Fofana and another student at Columbia High School in Maplewood were shot by an unknown assailant at the school's athletic complex.

The other teen suffered from "non-life-threatening" wounds, officials said.

Chief Assistant Prosecutor Thomas Fennelly told Patch late Friday afternoon that there are still no suspects in custody in connection with the killing. "The investigation is active and ongoing," he said. "There have been no arrests at this point."

He would not release any further information.

South Orange-Columbia School District Superintendent Taylor had informed the community of the shootings in a letter Monday, saying, "It is with a very heavy heart that we confirm there was a shooting last night with multiple victims at Underhill [sports complex]. One person was killed and at least one other was wounded. Tragically, the police have verified that both victims were Columbia High School students."

Law enforcement officials had said Monday that the incident is being investigated as a homicide — but have offered no updates since then about the investigation, motives, or why the teens were at the field.

CBS News reported Tuesday evening that friends of Moussa said he and the other teen were likely taking a shortcut through the field to watch a boxing match at a friend's house.

Moussa's friends and family praised him last week as a hard-working soccer star who was dedicated to his family and to the sport. READ MORE: 'Loss To The World': Maplewood Shooting Victim Mourned

"This is so heartbreaking," wrote Shaina Johnson on the fundraising page. "His mom does my hair and he would always come by the shop to check on her. She's always so nice. You can tell she loves her kids so much."

In a statement posted this week on the school district webpage, school officials said, "Moussa entered the District in 2014, as an ELL student and attended Maplewood Middle School; he later went on to attend Columbia High School, where he was a current Junior. He was a member of the CHS Cougars Varsity Soccer Team (#25), a friend, teammate, well-liked student, a son, a brother, and aspired to make it to a Pro-soccer league. A consistent theme shared by all who knew Moussa was the joy he brought to everyone he encountered, to everything he did, and to life in general."

Hoffmann added more information about the vigil Thursday night in response to questions: "I have been getting a couple of messages from people asking if the candlelight vigil is appropriate considering the faith of the family involved. I would like to assure everyone that Mrs. Fofana is aware of the vigil and has given us her blessing to hold this vigil. I hope this clears up any confusion. Long live Moussa."

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