Neven Stanisic was honest and hard-working, a mild-mannered quiet type, his church said this week.

Born in the United States, he was the son of Serbian refugees who fled Bosnia during the war in the 1990s. At 23 years old, Stanisic was the second youngest of the 10 victims who lost their lives March 22 at a Boulder King Soopers when a shooter opened fire.

“And now, the biggest question for the family, besides all the sorrow they are enduring, is how this could have happened here,” Rev. Radovan Petrovic, the family’s priest at Saint John the Baptist Serbian Orthodox Church in Lakewood, told the New York Times this week. “They fled war to save their lives, and to be struck by such a terrible tragedy — the loss is beyond comprehension.”

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Stanisic had a job repairing coffee machines throughout the Denver area and had just finished fixing the espresso machine at the Starbucks inside the supermarket when the shooting began. He was in his car, ready to leave, when he was killed, Petrovic told The Gazette.

“I assume the gunman pulled over right next to him, got out of his car and shot Neven,” Petrovic said. “He was the first victim, I believe.”

News of the shooting elicited droves of sympathetic messages nationwide for the families and friends of the 10 victims, including from Serbia’s ambassador to the United States, Marko Duric.

“I was deeply saddened by the tragic incident in Boulder,” Duric tweeted Tuesday. “We offer our most profound condolences to all the citizens of the United States, and our heartfelt sympathies to the families of the victims, one of whom was Neven Stanisic of Serb origin.”

I was deeply saddened by the tragic incident in Boulder, Colorado yesterday. We offer our most profound condolences to all the citizens of the United States, and our heartfelt sympathies to the families of the victims, one of whom was Neven Stanisic of Serb origin. pic.twitter.com/En2Hfpyknc

— Марко Ђурић (@markodjuric) March 23, 2021

Stanisic’s death is made tougher by the knowledge that he wasn’t originally supposed to be at the grocery store that fateful day, Petrovic said. The job he was there to do had been postponed twice before the shooting.

“If he had been able to go the first time, this wouldn’t have happened to him. There are just seconds in question between life and death,” Petrovic said. “It’s very difficult in this moment. This has caught us by surprise. We mourn the loss of life.”

According to his Facebook profile, Stanisic graduated from Alameda International Junior/Senior High School in Lakewood. Peppered with anime drawings and photos with friends and family members, the profile was last updated in May 2016, when Stanisic posted a photo of himself smiling with friends, draped in blue graduation caps and gowns.

In his free time, Stanisic liked to snowboard and visit his family in Serbia and Bosnia, Petrovic recalled.

“And he was a really hard worker — a good, honest, hard worker. It’s unfortunate that he lost his life so early, and while he was working.”

In a written statement released Thursday, Stanisic’s family, who have declined to speak to the press, thanked their friends, neighbors, church, local authorities and the broader Serbian community for their support and kindness during this time. They extended their condolences to the families of the other nine victims.

A funeral was planned for this weekend for Stanisic, according to the release. Services were only open to family members, his fellow parishioners and others close to the family.

“Parishioners have united in prayer for the Stanisic family and have set up a memorial in front of their church, where people can bring candles, pray and pay respect to Neven. We graciously request that this weekend and its events be left to the family,” the release said.

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