Alexander Boik, 18, known as A.J., attended Gateway High School in Aurora.

 

He was accepted at the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design where he had planned on attending classes in the fall, according to a statement by his family. He had hoped to become an art teacher and open his own studio.

 

His family described him as "a talented young man who enjoyed baseball, making pottery and music."  His classmates remembered him as funny and outgoing in the tributes that filled status updates on Facebook and posts on Twitter.

 

On Tumblr, one classmate wrote that he was a “wonderful friend and person to be around, and you were my friend. From orchestra to banquets to graduation parties and many more memories after high school. Your loving, caring, talented, and freakin’ hilarious self will be missed, but your spirit lives on in your friends and family.”