Friends, Family Wish They Saved N.J. College Student's Life, Even 'Taken A Bullet'

If only they could have saved him.

If they had been there, they would have taken a bullet for John Micalizzi.

These are the thoughts still rolling through the minds of friends and family of the Freehold, N.J. native, just days after he was shot and killed Monday during a college campus robbery.

Nearly all of them who spoke out about the murder said they weren't there, at the New Jersey Institute of Technology fraternity house, when Micalizzi tried to break up the armed robbery.

But as his family prepares to bury the 23-year old next week, they're saying this: They would have done everything they could to save John's life.

That's because, they say, it still hurts.

"Unfortunately I couldn't save Joe but I would've taken the bullet and returned fire if I was there," Chris Ranallo wrote on a GoFundMe page that's been set up for Micalizzi's family, which had raised nearly $16,000 by Thursday afternoon.

"When I become a prosecutor and I get a murderer in my court, I will remember Joe and I will deliver justice," he said.

They'll get another chance to say what they mean, and say what they could have done for him, when services are held for him beginning Monday.

Visitation will be held at the Clayton & McGirr Funeral Home, 100 Elton-Adelphia Road (Route 524), in Freehold Township on Monday and Tuesday from 4 to 8 PM.

Relatives and friends are then invited to his 10 a.m. funeral Mass on Wednesday at St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church, 61 Georgia Road, Freehold Township.

For those who desire, memorial contributions in Joe’s memory may be made to St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church.

A manhunt, meanwhile is underway for the Micalizzi's killer who shot him during a robbery at a TKE fraternity house on Monday, authorities said.

Tributes were set up for Micalizzi, who had transferred from Brookdale and was a beloved member of the TKE fraternity. Some of his Facebook friends changed their profile photos to the TKE symbol as a tribute.

Read more: UPDATE: Fatal Victim ID'd In New Jersey College Fraternity House Shooting

NJIT is offering an award of up to $10,000 for information leading to an arrest in this case.

As much as they appreciate the tributes, his family continued to grieve Thursday for the 23-year-old man who had achieved so much recently since he graduated from Howell High School in 2011.

There, he lettered as a wrestler, was a member of the National Honor Society and made it the dean's list after transferring to NJIT.

They had high hopes for Joe, otherwise known as "Mic," after he transferred from Brookdale Community College, enrolled in the mechanical engineering program and was was inducted to the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.

A parishioner of St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church and a member of the TKE Fraternity, Joe "was a beloved son, devoted brother, adoring grandson, admiring nephew, caring cousin, and dear friend to many," the family wrote in his obituary.

His father, John, told The Asbury Park Press often called his only son to check in on him. He even called that night to make sure he was safe.

But John Micalizzi didn't learn anything was wrong until the next day, the report said, when he got a call from his wife.

“It’s like somebody stuck a knife in my abdomen," John told The Press "And that’s how it feels. It's unbelievable. It's surreal.”

On the GoFundMe page, the page's manager, Bianca Miranda, sought to portray her loss in more poetic terms, saying: "Anyone who had the pleasure of knowing Joe knows that he loved his family more than life.

Miranda spoke to his sensitivity as a human being, saying he couldn't bare to see his loved ones whenever they were in pain

"I feel in life we only get a few choice soul mates and Some of them just happen to be your very best friends... I haven't let go of my chest since I heard... God, Mic, I feel like my hearts gonna fall out if I let go...

"I keep reading everyone's words to you... Ya it's pretty clear humanity loved you.. Yet still not one of us will grasp it... none of this will capture you... I need you to hear me... I need you to know... In all my days of living I have never encountered a human like you... I am no different... It's what everyone is saying... You're a hero Joe ..."

Ranallo said his loss will keep him focused on his goal in life: to become a successful police officer and, perhaps, a prosecutor.

"People always asked me. Why do you want to become a cop? Why do you want to continue to serve your country?" he said. "To protect and serve."