A flea market manager who was killed while trying to stop an alleged robbery is being remembered as a generous man who cared about his family and those who worked with him.

Police say Rocco Scavetta, 65, was shot and killed at the Toronto Weston Flea Market on Saturday around 3:30 p.m.

Witnesses say Scavetta, the longtime manager of the market, was killed while trying to stop an alleged robbery, though police have yet to confirm this claim.

Members of Scavetta’s family say he “died a hero” while trying to protect those at the market.

“Rocco was and is the glue to our whole family, we are left unhinged and lost,” Anna Scavetta-Bannerman, Scavetta’s niece, said in a statement. “My uncle died a hero. He always protected the people first. He was always there when you needed him and always had a joke to tell.”

Witnesses told CTV Toronto they heard a loud noise that brought chaos to the busy market.

“We heard a loud bang, but we didn’t know it was gunshots until a flood of people came outside,” Hamed Amin, an employee at the flea market, said. “When they came outside, everyone was panicked.”

Amin remembers Scavetta as a kind, generous man who once offered to give him the sweater off his back on a cold day.

“It was not just business, it was personal,” he said. “He was more like a family to us and we’re hit really hard with that.”

Other vendors say the market has had robberies in the past, but nothing this extreme.

“We’re all shocked,” said Zara Sadat, a vendor at the market. “He doesn’t deserve to die this way.”

Police say officers tracked the suspect down in a nearby subdivision, where they arrested a 16-year-old, whose identity is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

The incident is the city’s 74th homicide of the year.

With a report from CTV Toronto’s Miranda Anthistle

Update: Victim is reportedly VSA, Male suspect fleeing the area, investigation continues. ^gl — Toronto Police OPS (@TPSOperations) September 8, 2018