Brianna Long is killed by a stray bullet at Valdosta bar as friends remember Georgia high school soccer star as ‘charismatic, funny, everything’

A former high school football star died from a hail of bullets at a crowded Georgia bar where she worked after a gunfight broke out outside around closing time.

Bar worker Brianna Long, 21, was struck by a stray shot at 2:30 a.m. Sunday as terrified patrons took cover outside the Pier Bar in Valdosta.

The young dental student and former cheerleader was taken to the city’s South Georgia Medical Center, where she later died as police hunted for the shooter.

“Out of nowhere, all of a sudden, shots started happening, boom boom boom boom,” said bar customer Eboni Tomblin.

‘I felt like I could be hit by a bullet at any moment.

“They put a lot of teenagers and a lot of people in one small room and expect that things aren’t going to go away when all these people, a lot of them are immature, childish and under the influence.”

Brianna was a star player at Paulding County High School outside Atlanta, where she was selected by more than 5,000 other competitors as a regional winner in the Positive Athlete Georgia competition.

“There wasn’t a good time we didn’t have with Brianna,” said her uncle Kevin Long.

“She always made everyone laugh.”

“She was a cheerleader, a football star at Paulding County High School. She was also a lifeguard.

“She cared so much about everyone, and she would do anything for anyone.”

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said the parking lot outside the bar was packed with people and “multiple vehicles were shot” as the gunfight escalated.

“Brianna and other staff were closing the bar after it closed to customers at around 2am,” a spokesperson said.

‘Around 2.30am there was a shooting outside the bar and Long was hit as she finished work with another colleague.

“The early investigation indicates that the shooting resulted from some sort of altercation that occurred outside The Pier.

“During the shooting, many visitors were outside and several vehicles were shot.”

Brianna’s aunt Morgan Long, 29, said she felt more like a sister to her niece, who regularly stayed at her home while she attended Valdosta State University.

“She was like my person, she was like my other half,” she added.

“She was charismatic, funny, everything. She was just so beautiful.

“There wasn’t one person they didn’t give the opportunity to love, encourage or be their friend.”

Brianna, who wanted to become a pediatric dentist, is survived by two brothers, her parents and all four grandparents.

Her funeral will take place on Saturday and her former high school will celebrate her life on Sunday.

“Writing this seems impossible and is incredibly devastating, like a horrible nightmare that we would all like to wake up from,” a Pier Bar manager wrote on his Instagram page.

‘There is actually nothing right about the situation.

“If you knew Bri, you loved her. Her kindness and love radiated to all who had the opportunity to meet her, get to know her and love her.”

But according to the numbers, the city is in the top 25 percent of crime in the US crimegrade.orgwith the bar’s Remerton neighborhood being among the most dangerous.

“Personally, I feel like over the years of living in Valdosta, I’ve heard too many things that happen in that strip, and most of the violence in Remerton comes from that strip,” Tomblin shared. WTXL

“I feel like this is not a safe place to go if you want to go out and just have fun.”

No arrests have been made.