Grief and outrage spread across social media on Thursday after friends and relatives mourned the death of three-year-old Akini Kafi, who was killed in a shooting attack in Belmont earlier in the day.

Akini was among three people killed when gunmen opened fire on a group along St Francois Valley Road in the Rifle Hill area.

A photograph shared online by a friend of Akini’s mother, Antonia, showed the child being held by his mother before the tragedy. Antonia was also shot during the attack and remains in critical condition at hospital.