Fort Liberty soldier shot, killed at Fayetteville hookah bar remembered as 'exceptional paratrooper'

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- The man shot and killed Saturday in Fayetteville was a Fort Liberty soldier.

Fayetteville Police Department said Jonah Taylor, 21, was shot around 3 a.m. Saturday along Ramsey Street in northern Fayetteville.

He was taken to Cape Fear Valley Medical Center where he later died from his injuries.

"Pfc. Jonah Taylor was an exceptional Paratrooper, a great teammate, and an outstanding young man," Col. Todd Burroughs, commander of 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division said Tuesday. "His loss is tragic, and we extend our sincerest condolences to his family, friends, and those with whom he served in the Falcon Brigade."

Taylor grew up in the Coffeyville, Mississippi, area, about 30 miles south of Oxford. He leaves behind two children.

The mother of his children wrote on social media: "I'm so at a loss for words right now. If you knew my baby father, then you knew he loved me and I loved him regardless of what was going on with us."

An eyewitness to the deadly incident told ABC11 on Tuesday night that it started with a fight inside a hookah lounge that spilled into the parking lot. The eyewitness told ABC11 that he heard five gunshots.

The hookah bar declined to comment on the investigation.

No further details have been released about Taylor or the circumstances surrounding his death. The case remains under investigation by the Fayetteville Police Department.