Close friends and former colleagues of Larry Wellman describe the 63-year-old as funny, charismatic, and someone who died doing one of his defining traits: stepping up to the plate, to help someone in need.

Wellman was fatally shot Saturday night, after intervening in an armed robbery at a hotel bar in St. John's.

"He was never a reactionary person and I'm sure he wasn't on Saturday night. Larry would've assessed that situation, and probably said, 'I gotta defuse it,'" said long-time friend Gerry Whelan on Monday.

Wellman was born and raised in Corner Brook, where he was a firefighter from 1974 to 1986, before moving to St. John's to pursue a different career. But that first-responder instinct never left him, said Whelan.

"I spoke to his children about this yesterday. We all agreed, regardless of what people think of somebody doing something like that at the time, and maybe even making the situation worse, that Larry did the right thing because he was Larry," said Whelan.

Whelan says he, Wellman's two children, and their extended family are in shock over the loss of such a vibrant man.

"[He's] probably one of the funniest guys on the planet. Probably one of the brighter people that you'll ever run into," he said.

Wellman left a lasting impression among the ranks of the Corner Brook Fire Department.

"He was a really good firefighter and someone you could depend on when you were fighting a fire or at an accident or whatever it was," recalled firefighter Bob Joseph. "And if you were down, he'd always try and find a way to make you laugh or try and cheer you up."

Firefighter Geoff Tulk says Wellman's cheeky humour took the edge off his first day on the job.

"Larry came out to me and said, 'I'm gonna teach you all the ropes of firefighting now,' and he handed me a mop. And I looked at him and said, 'What's this for?' And he said, 'One of your first duties here, is you gotta keep this place clean.' And from that day forward, Larry was always the type of guy who didn't mind playing tricks. He kept everybody's spirits up," said Tulk.

Both fire fighters said they were shocked to hear of Wellman's death, but not surprised by his actions.

"Larry was the type of guy that if he [saw] an injustice done, he wasn't just going to sit by and allow it to happen," said Tulk.

Joseph added, "Larry was always there for us and we always hoped we'd be there for him. It's sad that this happened to him."

Gerry Whelan called his friend's death a wake up call for crime in the city.

"People in St. John's have to start understanding that this is in your neighbourhood. Whether it's in the east end, west end of St. John's, whatever it is, things are happening there at a rapid rate with crime," he said.

"It's just not the police that can solve this. Neighbourhoods have to get together and understand if you see crime happening, you see things that are unusual, you need to step up to the plate yourself."

Whelan, who lives in Halifax but is originally from Newfoundland and Labrador, and spends a lot of time in St. John's, said public safety is going downhill.

"I saw a big change in what's going on in St. John's, and a criminal element that's taken over. Unless neighbourhoods and people demand from government and from city council and the police, and seek their help as one group of people, this is only going to get worse and escalate in St. Johns, " he warned.

Whelan said Wellman was naturally inquisitive and a person who would often question injustice.

"I'm sure that night in question, on Saturday night, he was asking those questions," said Whelan. "He was asking why this was taking place, or asking to stop it, and the result is, he's now dead."