KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Nelson Hopkins Jr. was on his way home last night when he was shot and killed.

On Wednesday, Hopkins' friends and teachers told KCTV5 what an extraordinary kid he was.

The list of Hopkins’ interests at Alta Vista High School is as long as the letters of goodbye that were posted by classmates on a wall at the school.

"Band, journalism, debate, student council, poetry club," principal Ed Mendez said as he recalled the activities of a prized student who was gunned down near 54th Street and Lydia Avenue overnight near the Rockhurst University campus.

Police said he was shot in the chest. He had just left the Plaza branch of the Kansas City Public Library. Police said robbery might have been the motive, but they are still investigating.

"He had goals of going to college and many goals thereafter," said Mendez. "It's been a great loss for us today."

Students were coping with the news of their friend's death. They said their goodbyes in a way they thought Hopkins would appreciate -- through poetry.

"Smiling, laughing, wondering, 'What's next?' Rest in peace and I'll do the rest," wrote a friend, Jose Lima.

Nelson was a senior who had already started earning college credits through a special school program. No one is in custody in the case.