SPRINGFIELD, Oregon (CNN) -- Seventeen-year-old Mikael Nickolauson, one of two students killed in last week's school shooting spree, was buried in a flag-draped casket Tuesday. He was remembered as a quiet boy who loved computers and board games and dreamed of a job as a systems analyst in the military.

Busloads of students from Thurston High School attended the funeral with military honors. Just three days before he was killed, Nickolauson had taken a step toward his goal of a job in the military by signing up for the Oregon National Guard. He would have started his basic training this summer.

The other student killed when 15-year-old Kip Kinkel allegedly opened fire in Thurston High's crowded cafeteria last week -- 16-year-old Ben Walker -- was buried Monday.

On Tuesday, more than 900 people packed the Eugene Christian Fellowship to remember Nickolauson.

Several in a long line of speakers stood before a coffin draped with the American flag and expressed their bitterness that he was taken so young.

Applause rose from the crowd only once, when a mother who did not give her name said, "Hug your child tonight. He is the most valuable asset you have."


Students gather outside Thurston High School before classes

'Today is terrible'

At Nickolauson's funeral, a minister expressed the pain that has followed the shooting rampage that left four dead and 22 injured.

"It hurts so deep it stabs at the very heart of our being," said the Rev. Otis Harden. "Yesterday was terrible. Today is terrible. Tomorrow is another day."

At a juvenile detention center across town from the place where the community mourned, Kinkel remained under a suicide watch. He wore paper clothing and was confined to an isolation cell with 24-hour surveillance cameras.

Kinkel is charged as an adult with four counts of aggravated murder. He is alleged to have fatally shot his parents at home before driving the family car to school and firing 51 rounds from a rifle in the school cafeteria.

Kinkel's sister makes statement

His sister, Kristin Kinkel, a college junior, issued a statement Tuesday in which she expressed her "deep, deep sorrow and sympathy" for the students killed and wounded.

She issued the statement through a lawyer, Donald A. Loomis, who serves as the attorney for the estate of her parents, Bill and Faith Kinkel.

"She asked that I relay her deep, deep sorrow and sympathy to the victims of the shooting at Thurston High School and their families," Loomis said. "She feels and shares your loss."

The statement said Kristin "remains supportive" of her brother.

"She has had an opportunity to speak with Kip and they shared their grief," the statement said of 21-year-old Kristin, who is a student at Hawaii Pacific University.

Father apparently sought help day before shooting

The day before the shooting, Kinkel had been arrested and suspended for allegedly buying a gun from another boy and putting it in his locker.

He was booked and sent home with his parents, who friends say were becoming increasingly frustrated with their son's growing obsession with guns and bombs.

National Guard officials say they got a call that afternoon from a person believed to be Kinkel's father anxiously seeking to enroll his son in a Guard program for troubled youngsters. The man didn't identify himself but said his son was 15 and had just been suspended from Thurston High.

The minimum age for the program is 16 and those currently facing charges are not eligible.

National Guard program director Keith Bonner quoted the man as saying: "I have a son who is probably going to be in serious trouble and I'm looking for help."

A public memorial service for Bill Kinkel, 59, and his wife, Faith, 57, who were both popular teachers, is set for Friday at Springfield High School, where Mrs. Kinkel taught.

Correspondent Greg Lefevre and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Oregon shooting victim buried with military honors

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'Today is terrible'

Kinkel's sister makes statement

Father apparently sought help day before shooting

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