Sister remembers Patrick Roers, victim of Cloquet Super 8 shooting: "Just lit up a room"

CLOQUET, Minn. — Family and friends gathered in northern Minnesota Wednesday night for an emotional vigil, remembering 22-year-old Shellby Trettel.

Police say a man shot and killed her while she working at the Super 8 hotel in Cloquet Monday night.

Police still don't know why a gunman killed her, another man and himself.

Patrick Roers, 35, was one of the victims in the shooting.

He was just sitting in his car in the motel parking lot.

"He just had these big chubby cheeks and just so loveable," said Ellen Roers, Patrick Roer's sister.

Ellen Roers remembers Patrick Roers as her 9 pound, 9 ounce baby brother, whose cheeks earned him a nickname.

"My mom immediately started calling him our 'Bubba,'" said Ellen Roers.

Patrick Roers was texting his parents around 6 pm Monday from the Super 8 parking lot, Ellen Roers said. He told them he would be coming home for the weekend.

He was in Cloquet, training in his first week at a new job.

Just a half-hour later, Patrick Roers was shot and killed while sitting in his car.     

"It's always hard to lose anyone, but the way that it was tragically done was what goes in my mind a lot, so I try to stop thinking about that, otherwise I just break down," said Ellen Roers.

Ellen Roers remembers her brother for his infectious personality.

"Handsome man, great smile, just lit up a room. Wanted to do anything for any of us," said Ellen Roers. "He would just say hello and his smile, his voice, he reminds me of Chris Stapleton, where he just looked like a big teddy bear. He had a big beard."

Ellen Roers said her brother would go to great lengths for others.

"There wasn't a job too big. He would drive six hours to Bismarck to go pick up my sister's dog," she said.

An online fundraiser has been posted to help cover funeral expenses.

Ellen Roers said she wants to focus on celebrating how her brother lived as opposed to how he passed.

"My message to others is really make sure you celebrate your loved ones when they're here, here on the present plane, because when they go, it feels a little too late," she said.