YORK COUNTY--The night Isaiah Green was fatally shot by police, he had been celebrating the 21st birthday of one of his closest friends with a group of high school classmates.

The group visited two bars in downtown York, then decided to call it a night after Green's friend was asked to leave the second bar because the friend who turned 21 was intoxicated.

As the group split up in the early hours of Dec. 28, Green returned to his mother's home in Dover Township with one of his friends.

But what happened next remains a tragic mystery to most people outside of that home in the 3800 block of Kings Lane in York County.

Green's relatives have not provided any public statements and police have provided only the most basic information about the shooting that occurred as Green held his AR 15 rifle in his mother's garage just before 2 a.m.

Two weeks later, neighbors and friends continue to wonder how the young man they admired for his kindness and respect had become embroiled in a police shooting.

Green, 21, was commended by his friends for his responsibility, friendliness and happy go-lucky attitude. He excelled as a varsity football player and his high school class at Dover Area High School voted him onto the Homecoming Court his senior year.

"He was larger than life and someone everyone looked to as a leader and role model," said friend and classmate Alec Corbin. "I never caught a negative vibe from him ever. He was always someone that saw the positive in everything and that's how he lived."

Green drove a gorgeous blue Ford F-150 truck in high school that was the envy of all his classmates. They voted the truck "best vehicle" of the senior class.

But Green sold his beloved truck after graduating high school so he could pay tuition at the Kentucky Welding Institute last year. He switched to a more affordable, beat-up four-door car.

"He was a very responsible guy," said Dylan Taylor, of Bowling Green, Kentucky, who was enrolled in the same welding school last year. "It says a lot to be willing to sacrifice something to better your future down the line."

Green's welding school buddies can't wrap their minds around what happened with Green and the kind of guy they knew Green to be , Taylor said.

"They're all just like, 'Why? Why Isaiah?'" Taylor said. "You couldn't ask for a better guy. I always thought highly of him."

Green's death as he visited his mother over the Christmas holiday was the first of two fatal shootings by Northern York Regional County Police in the last two weeks.

Police released a detailed account of the more recent police shooting, saying a driver resisted arrest, and put his car in reverse with his driver's door still open, propelling an officer against a police car in a church parking lot.

But Green's actions on Dec. 28 remain unknown to the public.

Green had been living in Gettysburg at his grandmother's farm house and working as a welder since graduating from welding school in September.

When Green returned to his mother's home from his night out with friends on Dec. 28, it's unclear how long he was there before police were called.

Police said a woman at the home summoned an officer, but the woman did not specify in the 911 call why she needed assistance. The officer showed up very quickly because he happened to be nearby, a police spokeswoman said.

The officer reportedly was walking up the driveway when he encountered Green, who was holding his AR-15 rifle in the opened garage.

The officer fired at Green, striking him in the torso and left shoulder. The next-door neighbor who shares a wall with Green's mother said the two bullets penetrated her garage and knocked framed art off her dining room wall.

The neighbor, Pam McLaughlin, who was awake at the time, said she didn't hear anything other than the two gunshots and the crash of her framed art hitting the floor.

The neighbor across the street said he heard a gunshot and looked outside. That's when Josh Leese said he saw Green alone, lying motionless on the garage floor. Two officers also were at the scene, although Leese believes one officer arrived after the shooting.

Later, McLaughlin, and another neighbor who opened her bathroom window, heard Green's friend outside the townhome repeatedly complaining to officers who detained him, "What did I do?" The officers apparently were preparing to take the friend away for questioning.

While a police spokeswoman initially said in a televised interview that the officer ordered Green to put the gun down before firing, she later walked back that statement to the York Daily Record and said she didn't know what, if anything, was said between the two men.

The official news release by police about the incident did not say whether the garage door was already opened before the officer arrived nor did it describe any actions taken by Green. Instead, the news release described the situation in basic terms:

"The officer arrived on scene and was approached by Green, who was in the garage with an AR 15 rifle. Green was shot and killed by the police."

A Pennsylvania State Police spokesman said Wednesday that the officer's department did not use body cameras and the incident was not recorded on his dash camera video.

Trooper Brent Miller said he could not answer additional questions as the incident was still under investigation. He also declined to provide the tenure of the officer.

Toxicology tests on Green likely will be part of the investigation as investigators try to piece together what led to the shooting. Once the investigation is complete, the case file will be handed to the district attorney's office for review.

The police department also will review the incident for compliance with internal policies.

Matthew Menges, an attorney and Dover Township supervisor who served on the police commission last year, said officers involved in police shootings typically provide brief statements immediately after a shooting, then a detailed written statement several days later that become part of the permanent case file.

Police commissioners who oversee the department plan to review any final report by the district attorney, he said.

Friends said the gun Green was holding in the garage was his own rifle. He had trained his mother how to use it and left it at her home while he went to welding school last year, according to friends.

Green looked out for his mother and was extremely close to her, according to friends.

His parents divorced about 2009. His mother moved to Kings Lane in Dover and his father apparently remarried and lived in Cumberland County for a time.

Anastasia Quaglione, who knew Isaiah Green and started an online fundraiser to help Green's mother, said she "lived for her children." The fundraiser generated more than $7,500 so far.

"Isaiah was her rock," Quaglione said. "Her kids are her everything."

Neighbors said they never saw a hint of trouble at the house and that Green was quick to help them move a trampoline or shovel snow.

While in high school, Green was known as a talented football player with above-average strength. He amassed more than 1,000 rushing yards his junior year, an impressive feat for any running back, said his former coach, Bill Miller.

Miller coached Green during Green's sophomore year as the school's varsity coach.

"He was very coachable," Miller said. "He gave proper consideration and would apply the things we were working with him on without question."

Miller also knew Green as a student and said he was "very friendly, very funny."

Anyone who knew Green also knew about his love of hunting, Miller said. He talked about it to everyone, including his newfound friends at welding school last year.

Dylan Taylor, who met Green last spring as they both worked through certifications in combo pipe welding and structural welding, said he once asked Green what he would do if he won the lottery.

Green didn't hesitate with his answer.

"He said he would buy land in the Dakotas and hunt Whitetail for the rest of his life," Taylor said.