ORANGE PARK, Fla. – Relatives and friends are holding a viewing Friday in Orange Park for a 34-year-old college student killed on Jacksonville's Southside a week ago.
Nicholas Hare was about to graduate with an engineering degree from the University of North Florida.
But late last Friday, Hare was shot and killed by his girlfriend's ex-boyfriend in her home off Gibson Road, police said. That man then shot himself. The girlfriend was there, but she wasn't hurt.
The shooter hasn't been named, but at last check, he was still in critical condition in the hospital.
Family and friends are still having a hard time coming to grips with Hare's death. They're in pain but are trying to stay strong for each other and lay him to rest with dignity, Hare's friend, Ashley Arrwood, said.
Arrwood knew Hare for about half her life, so long that they became like family. On a GoFundMe page for his family, Arrwod wrote that she wants Hare to be remembered as "fun-loving, goofy, caring, charismatic, kindhearted."
"He always put others before himself and would go out of his way to help anyone at a moment's notice," Arrwood wrote.
As friends and family prepare to say goodbye to a man who meant so much to so many, they want to know why? Why was an innocent man's life taken?
"We are now forced to tend to a wound that will never mend," Arrwood said.
Hare's relatives are holding a funeral for him Saturday in Orange Park. His mother is torn up by the tragedy and said she was too devastated to comment publicly.
Friends have set up a donation account to pay for Hare's unexpected funeral expenses. To donate, go to http://www.gofundme.com/nicholashare.