( CNN ) -- The 14-year-old victim of Tuesday 's school shooting in Oregon was a sweet kid who sometimes put on a tough front , friends said . Emilio Hoffman was shot in a locker room at Reynolds High School in Troutdale . The motive of the shooter , identified as 15-year-old Jared Padgett , is not known . Padgett died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound elsewhere at the school . There is no known link between Padgett and Hoffman , authorities said Wednesday . Almost as soon as the news spread that Hoffman was the victim , a candlelight vigil was quickly organized . Hundreds of students and parents showed up Tuesday night to remember the teen , who was a standout soccer player . Hoffman 's parents attended . They wept as the mass of people circled around them , trying to comfort them , singing songs of praise and hope . `` Emilio loved his friends , and his friends loved him . To those friends we say -- be happy like Emilio . Smile like him . Laugh like him , '' his mother , Jennifer Hoffman , said in a statement . `` To the parents out there -- Love your kids . Hug your kids every day . And live with no regrets . I do n't have any regrets with Emilio . None . And he knew that , '' she said . Hoffman had one sister and three brothers , plus a number of foster brothers and sisters . He enjoyed science and history , but loved sports -- especially soccer . `` He was a sweet boy , '' friend Savannah Rowe told CNN . `` He acted all cool around his friends , but when you got to know him he was just sweet and always there for you if you needed someone to talk to . '' They got to know each other in middle school , and they were in choir together , Rowe said . Hoffman `` did n't deserve what he got , '' a close friend , Kaylah Ensign , told CNN affiliate KGW . As soon as the lockdown was lifted , Hoffman was the first person she tried to reach by phone , she said . When she got no answer , she joined Hoffman 's mother , and together they continued their search . It was then that they learned that the young man had been shot dead . `` I wish I could have said goodbye , or told him how much he meant to me , but I know he knows , '' Ensign said . Hoffman was the person who could make Ensign smile on her hardest days . `` He 's just so amazing and great , and it really hurts to know that I 'm going to wake up tomorrow and he 's not going to be here , '' she said . Student Cody Gleason was close to where the shooting happened , and he heard and watched it unfold . He heard the shots , which he initially mistook for firecrackers , and then saw people running . That morning , he was supposed to see Hoffman in a class where he was his teacher 's assistant . `` He was a great kid , I loved him , '' Gleason said . `` He was always respectful to his teachers . He was a great student . '' Oregon shooting : 'This is becoming the norm ' -- but will anything change ?
NEW : `` Be happy like Emilio . Smile like him . Laugh like him , '' his mother says . Emilio Hoffman was killed in the school shooting in Troutdale . He was 14 and a standout soccer player . Friends remember the sweetness beneath a tough persona .