RICHMOND (KRON) — The friends of a 14-year-old boy who was fatally shot in Richmond returned to school on Tuesday heartbroken and afraid, they told KRON 4’s Will Tran.

Xavier McClanahan, 14, was shot and killed in Richmond Monday morning around 9:22 a.m. in the 3300 block of Ohio Avenue, according to police.

The teen was a ninth grader at Kennedy High School.

“He was cool, he was awesome. He was the first person I knew when I came here,” his friend said. “He was nice. He was a good kid.”

The students who spoke to Tran said they did not want to be on-camera because they are scared for their own lives.

McClanahan should have been in school when he was shot. A girl, his friend, said she found out when he didn’t show up to a class they had together.

Police were actively searching for a male suspect, who was last seen by witnesses running from the scene on the Richmond Greenway trail.

But Richmond police have arrested four known gang members linked to recent shooting cases that have been plaguing the city of Richmond. The suspects have been identified as Raymond Smith (21 yrs old), Damon Crawford (24 yrs old), Jyvante West (22 yrs old) and Kevin Chatman (24 yrs old).

The city’s most recent homicide involved the 14-year-old-teen. But officers have not directly linked these four suspects to that case but said the car they were in has been linked to recent shooting cases.

These suspects are between 21 and 24 years old.  Two loaded guns were taken off the street as well.

On Tuesday night, a city council meeting was held for residents to make their voices heard. They said the community should be outraged.

The 14-year-old was supposed to move to Mississippi on Tuesday with family, so he could start new and fresh.

Those from a group called Men and Women of Purpose said that when they held special softball events last summer, Xavier always showed up to help them with the fields.

They said they believe the system lost him in the cracks.

The motive behind the murder is unknown and under investigation.

OFFICERS IN ACTIONRichmond police officers arrested 4 known gang members and took two loaded guns off the…

Posted by The Richmond Police Department on Tuesday, March 1, 2016