Mytia Barker -- Photo courtesy of Knightley’s Photos

STEUBENVILLE — Those who knew Mytia Barker best say her death Sunday at the hand of an unknown gunman was “sad, tragic and senseless.”

The 24-year-old was at a party near Claire Avenue and Pine Street when the gunman opened fire around 12:45 a.m. Sunday, striking her and 31-year-old O’Brian Moore, 434 S. Sixth St., Police Chief Bill McCafferty said.

The shooting, one of three taking place within about three hours, is still being investigated, so details remain sketchy, he said.

“There was a party, a lot of people were out,” McCafferty said.

Barker was transported to Trinity Medical Center West and then flown by emergency helicopter to a Pittsburgh hospital, where she died. Moore was shot in the leg, McCafferty said.

Less than an hour later, McCafferty said 22-year-old Marquelle McClung, Apartment 210, 730 N. Seventh St., was shot in the leg while and she and several other people were walking in the 400 block of South Sixth Street en route to Club 106. Those shots were believed to have come from the direction of Railroad Avenue, he said.

Just two hours later, police responded to reports that more shots had been fired, this time by Club 106 at Sixth and South streets. McCafferty said a person in a vehicle “drove past and started shooting” around 4:30 a.m.

“Three vehicles were struck, nobody was injured there,” he said.

Family friends, who asked not to be identified because they “still have to live here,” said Barker was a good person who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Barker, one woman said, had been raised by a mother who worked hard to keep her family together and out of trouble. She described Barker’s murder as “senseless.”

“Enough is enough,” she added.

Steubenville High School Principal Ted Gorman also decried the violence.

“Mytia was such a great person,” he said, pointing out she’d been named to several all-star teams in high school and was 2014 homecoming queen.

“I have never heard a person say one negative thing about her. She was a fierce competitor and an incredible teammate.”

Gorman said before her death Barker was preparing for her LSAT test so she could go to law school.

“Her life was just getting started,” he said. “This is so sad, tragic and senseless. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mytia’s mom and the rest of her family.”

Antoinette Fuller, who set up a GoFundMe page to help the family with funeral expenses, described Barker as a star softball and basketball player at Big Red who’d attended Bethany College, graduated from Youngstown State University and was working as a manager at FedEx Ground.

“But most importantly, (she was) a daughter, sister and dear friend to many,” Fuller wrote. “Unfortunately, she was a victim to senseless gun violence in her hometown of Steubenville. After several surgeries and attempts, Mytia passed away Sunday around 5 p.m.”

Fuller said donations “will be greatly appreciated by her family,” adding that, “We thank you for all your kind words, thoughts, prayers, and donations.”

Another GoFundMe page, this one set up by Dakota Knightley, said Mytia “was taken from this world too soon.”

“She could light up any room,” Knightley said. “This young woman was someone special and she was going to do magnificent things in her life. She was a daughter, a sister, an aunt and a friend too many.”

Knightley said Barker was “loved beyond measure and will be missed more than you’ll ever know.”

“No parent should have to carry the burden of having to bury their baby before their time,” she added.

McCafferty, meanwhile, said detectives “are investigating, we have a few leads we’re following up on.”

“But, as always, we can’t solve this without the community’s assistance,” he said. “If anybody has information, please come forward with it.”

Police were contacted later Sunday about vehicles and homes that had been damaged by gunfire.

— A Brady Avenue resident reported her granddaughter’s vehicle had been struck by bullets, saying the girl was “caught in crossfire” as she drove past Club 106. Police found two bullet holes in the trunk and three more in the rear passenger side window, which was shattered. A tire also was flattened. Shell casings were recovered and the vehicle impounded.

— A house in the 400 block of South Fifth Street was hit by gunfire around 1:30 a.m. Sunday, police said. A large window in the rear of the residence was struck by a bullet, which then traveled through the kitchen faucet and lodged in a wall. They said a bullet also struck the side of a neighbor’s house next to a second story window, and another was lodged in an air conditioner.