CARY - Devon Mitchell talked about getting a gun and robbing a bank in the days before he died, according to a neighbor who considered himself Mitchell's friend and mentor.

But Alex Nazar, 37, said the 19-year-old didn't want money.

"I think he wanted attention or some kind of help," he said, standing outside the bank where earlier this month Mitchell allegedly held seven hostages in a standoff before he was killed by police.

Less than a mile away, at the apartment complex where Mitchell lived with his family, those who knew him visited a shrine of candles, photos and cards.

Neighbors said Mitchell was a frequent sight at the apartment complex. He often spoke in silly accents and danced in the street. He helped new neighbors move in and he was well liked.

The stories told by Mitchell's friends paint different portraits of the man whose motives elude a community searching for answers.

"What made him do that?" asked Anthony Johnson, 22. "If I could talk to him now I'd ask that."

Johnson invited Mitchell to his apartment to watch a comedy movie with his family days before his death. "He felt loved at my house," Johnson said.

Aysha Britt, 29, said Mitchell was polite and kind. But she added that he was increasingly distressed by his home life.

Mitchell pretended to hold a gun under a knit hat as he left the bank with a hostage after a three-hour standoff. Five law enforcement officers fired a volley of bullets that killed him.

Mitchell's family could not be reached for comment. Messages left at his apartment were not returned.

In Mitchell's memory, people posted pictures to Facebook of a young man who smiled broadly or clowned for the camera.

In other pictures, Mitchell posed over-seriously for a portrait and flashed peace symbols during a church rafting trip.

He joined the Panther Creek High School wrestling team during his first, year-long stretch at the school.

Neighbors said he worked at Bojangles' after he dropped out of school in 2008. He reenrolled on Jan. 31. He wanted a career in music production and a salary that could help his family, friends said.

"At least he gave himself a second chance," Johnson said.

But Nazar saw Mitchell's troubles escalating.

He said Mitchell was often barred from his own home and sometimes wore the same clothes for days.

Nazar said he sometimes gave Mitchell a place to stay.

"He was always hungry, but he'd never ask for food," he said.

Britt sensed in Mitchell an unfulfilled longing for emotional connections.

"You could see it on his face, that he wanted to be loved," she said.

And in Mitchell's last days he talked frequently about God and the Greek deities and laughed loudly to himself, Nazar added.

Nazar said he asked Mitchell what he found so funny. "He wouldn't say nothing," Nazar said.

Mitchell recently told Nazar that he wanted a gun, Nazar said. Mitchell said that "if you have a gun, you have money," he recalled.

Britt said that Mitchell wanted to move to Texas or to his native Gary, Ind.

"He wanted to get away," Britt said. "Things wasn't going well here."