The Franklin County Sheriff's Office is investigating a fatal shooting that took the life of a Galloway teenager. Get the story.

Grief stricken family and friends are trying to make sense of the shooting death of 17 year-old Reb Barbee.

Authorities are releasing few details about the murder, but neighbors say the teenager was shot on Lakefield Drive in Galloway around 5 a.m. Sunday.

Family friends said the victim managed to stumble back to his home on Dovalon Court, leaving behind a trail of blood on the street.

Neighbor Sheila Williams said she got the news from the teen's mother and was heartbroken.

"Please tell me it is not true and she said yes it is," said Williams. "He was shot in the back."

Barbee attended Tolles Technical Center in Plain City with his childhood friend Robert Wadsworth.



He was in tears after learning about Barbee's murder and said things like this don't happen in Galloway.

"To see this going on in my own neighborhood, I don't know what to think," said Wadsworth. "He's been my elementary school buddy for life. I rode the bus growing up with him."

Sheriff's deputies blocked off Lakefield Drive for hours Sunday while crime scene investigators gathered evidence on the street and from inside the teenager's home.

Authorities also searched another home in the neighborhood and took multiple people into custody for questioning.

Neighbors called Barbee a good kid with a caring heart, but they also said he recently started running with a bad crowd.

"Everyone loved Reb," said Tyler Pemperton, a friend of the victim. "He was a great kid and didn't deserve this at all."

Friends and family said they are now questioning why someone would want to kill him.

Authorities aren't saying if they've made any arrests