He was a full-time teller at the Sovereign Bank branch in Warwick, R.I., took college courses in accounting and worked several nights a week as a waiter.

"Stephen was kind and gentle and thoughtful," said Cheryl Augustine, a colleague at the bank, where he was a favorite of customers and co-workers. "He treated everyone with courtesy and respect."

Gary McCauley, his manager at the LongHorn Steakhouse in Warwick, R.I., called Libera "a perfect employee."

"He was very caring and always calm under pressure," McCauley said.

Libera was a 1999 graduate of Bishop Hendricken High School in Warwick, where he played drums and guitar, said Augustine. He loved music, she said.

He had told co-workers he planned to attend the concert Thursday night. They arrived at work Friday morning nervously hoping he would appear.

"Even when he didn't come to work Friday morning, we were still hopeful," Augustine said. "It was one of those things you didn't want to believe. You suppressed the thoughts. But on Saturday, we found out the worst."

ANDREA ESTES and MEREDITH GOLDSTEIN