A college football star has been killed after more than 50 bullets were fired at his car, People reports.

Ladarius Clardy, an 18-year-old quarterback at Kennesaw State University, was found dead in his car which had crashed in a ravine in a wooded area after the fatal gunshots were fired after midnight last Thursday, July 1.

The teenager had left a friend's house and was driving along a main road in Pensacola, Florida, when his black Honda Accord was attacked, Sheriff Chip Simmons revealed at a press conference, according to the outlet.

"Someone fired over 50 rounds into the car, most of them into the car door, the driver's door," Simmons said.

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Authorities found Clardy's vehicle near the intersection of West Fairfield Drive and Hollywood Avenue.

Inside the car was Clardy, who was pronounced dead at the scene, and an unidentified male passenger, 19, who had sustained a number of gunshot wounds in the attack. The passenger was immediately rushed to the hospital after being found.

"This is not someone who is a loose kid out there running the streets," Pastor Joseph Marshall of St. John Divine Missionary Baptist Church said at a press conference, per Fox5 Atlanta.

"His family is very active. He attends our church, youth department, singing, participating in our entire youth department. I can't express enough."

Friends, family, and others in the local community have expressed their grief over the loss of a young athlete with a promising career ahead of him.

"I never thought I'd be on this side," Clardy's father, Ladaron Clardy, told the Pensacola News Journal.

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Family friend Jada Floyd told Fox5 Atlanta: "This really broke the city. Everybody, a lot of people in the city loved LD. He was just... he was a star.

"I don't know why we have to use guns nowadays but it's getting out of hand because they killed somebody so innocent. Prayer can get us through it."

A search operation with the aim of finding the young man's killers is underway and police have since spoken to three men about the incident.

A reward of $5,000 has been offered in exchange for crucial information which could lead to charges and convictions in the case.

Those with any information in connection with the shooting are asked to call Crime Stoppers at 850-433-STOP or the ECSO at 850-436-9620.

Featured image credit: Danny Hooks / Alamy

College football star, 18, is shot dead after more than 50 gunshots fired at his car