PAULDING COUNTY, Ga. — Editor's note: The video above is about the funeral service announced for an 11-year-old killed in a Paulding County home
Students and staff wore green shirts in remembrance of an 11-year-old who was shot and killed inside his Paulding County home in late April.
Photos were released Saturday morning from Ragsdale Elementary School of several classes and teachers all wearing either green or shirts with Zander Whatley's face on them ahead of what would have been his 12th birthday on May 11.
He died on April 29 after Paulding County Sheriff's Office deputies responded to a shooting on Ruth Way around 11 p.m., finding that multiple shots were fired at a home.
A bullet that went inside the home hit Zander.
"That’s the bullet that came through the glass and through the two sheet rocks and got him," William Dorsey, Zander's stepdad, said in April, pointing to one of the bullet holes in the side of their home.
Zander was taken to a local hospital, where he later died, according to the sheriff's office. Dorsey said Zander has 11 siblings, saying the 11-year-old enjoyed being a brother and helping his siblings. He added that "there's a lot of love" in the home.
The Paulding County Sheriff's Office and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation are still investigating the circumstances surrounding Zander's death.
If anyone has information, detectives are asking you to call the investigators' tip line at (770)-443-3047. You can also submit an anonymous tip via the Paulding Sheriff’s Office mobile app.
The community has also set up a meal train to help Zander's family during this difficult time.
Paulding County students and staff wear green in memory of 11-year-old shot and killed
