Dirk Wolf's death has many people in his hometown of Amherst Junction in mourning and in shock.

Family and friends say he was creative and kind, loved art and science, and took pride in caring for his younger brother and young daughter.

Wolf leaves behind a fiancée, Michelle Evelyn, and a two-year-old daughter, Megan, who were inside the building when Wolf was shot.

Thursday, other people in his life, parents and teachers, shared their memories.

Dirk Wolf spent kindergarten through senior year at Amherst School. Much of that time was spent in the gifted and talented program.

"He couldn't be working on one idea at a time, he always had to be working on multiple ideas because I think his mind was always working on something new and something different," says Celia Shogren, who taught Wolf at Amherst School.

Some of those ideas took form on the covers of science fiction novels. He designed his first at 16, and won a national award when he was 17.

Wolf also had a special bond with his autistic brother Wayne, caring for him about five hours every day.

"It's going to be hard for Wayne to understand and not be able to see him, as well as his little girl and his fiancée. It's going to be a loss for everybody and his parents," says Shogren.

You've probably seen video of the cane at the crime scene; that did belong to Wolf. His Parents say he needed the cane to walk after being bitten by a brown recluse spider about a year ago. The bite left him with nerve damage in his leg.

Wolf's mother says at eight years old, he announced he wanted to be an organ donor when he died, so they're comforted knowing that a man who cared so much about others will be able to help after he's gone.