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A funeral for Peter DiSabatino was set to take place Monday, a week after the 20-year-old University of Delaware sophomore was shot and killed in the courtyard of his off-campus apartment in Newark.
Neighbors Aaron and Dylan Brady ran to the scene of the crime after hearing gunshots and administered CPR, but DiSabatino died in the hospital of a bullet wound to the chest.
DiSabatino was studying for an associate of arts at the university's Wilmington campus. On a university memorial page, DiSabatino's professors praised him as a hard worker with a sense of humor. Alan Horowitz, associate professor of sociology, said DiSabatino was well-regarded by his classmates and was an active student.
Tami Lunsford, a biology professor, recalled DiSabatino's hard work to improve a B+ to a rare 100 percent mark:
He was such a lively presence in the classroom -- making jokes when appropriate, asking questions frequently, and showing how much he cared about his education. He was one of the students I could (and did) joke with during a lecture to lighten the mood because other students liked and respected him. He was a true pleasure to teach -- the type of student every professor wants to have in their class.
While a formal funeral was to take place Monday at DiSabatino's church, Cornerstone United Methodist Church in Bear, Del., family members and friends lit candles and prayed in an impromptu service last Tuesday at the site of the shooting, according to CBS in Philadelphia.
“I think the tragedy of this whole thing is the potential of what he could’ve become is now gone, and will never be repeated,” Peter's father, Thomas DiSabatino, told CBS.
In a tragic coincidence, as the Daily Times pointed out, DiSabatino was shot at the same apartment complex where University of Delaware student Lindsey Bonistall was raped and murdered seven years ago. Her convicted killer, James Cooke Jr., is now on death row.
Police have found no apparent motive in DiSabatino's slaying but are reportedly looking for two suspects, described as African-American men wearing hoodies, according to NBC 10. The New Castle County Police Department did not immediately respond to request for comment from The Huffington Post, but police told CBS the shooting did not appear to be random.
One friend, Olivia Natalini, told CBS DiSabatino was not the type of person to "deserve for any ill will to happen to him."