Early on Father’s Day,

a dad to 9 is gunned down at his own birthday party in Pine Hills.

Alexis Osmick’s birthday cake was still untouched Sunday afternoon.

About 200 family members and friends had gathered the previous evening at a Pine Hills home on Pioneer Road to celebrate the father of nine turning 39 years old, but before they could cut the large, white sheet cake, a fight broke out and gunfire erupted.

Osmick was hit shortly after 3 a.m. Sunday. He later died at a hospital.

“His wife watched him get shot, and his son sat with him as he bled and died. He [his son] kept yelling ‘Dad! Dad!’ ” said longtime friend Hedrode Raymond. “I don’t understand what happened. He was doing nothing wrong. He was just enjoying his birthday.”

Orange County deputies say the shooter is cooperating with investigators but has not been charged.

Raymond, 39, said Osmick had been looking forward to his birthday and had invited everyone to celebrate. He was well-known in the area, moving to Orlando from Haiti years ago to have “a better life,” Raymond said.

He had nine children, ranging in age from teenagers to a baby that his wife gave birth to just four months ago.

“It was such a great night. We all were having so much fun. We’re like a family, and we all love him. I don’t think it feels real to us,” Raymond said while standing Sunday afternoon outside the home, which was transformed from a lively party into a crime scene hours prior.

Those at the celebration Saturday feasted on ribs, chicken and rice while drinking beers and dancing to music. Raymond said at some point early Sunday, a man arrived and an argument began. Osmick and others tried to break it up when the shooting happened, Raymond said.

Deputies have not said what led up to the fight. Osmick was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center, where he died.

On Sunday, about a dozen vehicles parked in front of the yellow house, two blocks north of Silver Star Road, as those who knew Osmick came back to talk about his life and grieve his death.

He was a “wonderful guy who was always laughing and helping others,” Raymond said, adding his friend was a loving father who “always put the needs of his kids before his own.”

Osmick carried a gun on many occasions because he worked as a security guard, but he didn’t think it was needed at his party.

“No one would have ever thought this could have happened,” Raymond said while holding back tears. “Not even in our nightmares.”