Every year, nearly 3000 children and teens die from gunfire, and nearly 14,000 are injured.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

14-year old boy killed when Stockton party ended in gunshots

Arturo Marquez, Jr., age 14
A party in Stockton, California got out of hand and ended in gunfire.  A 14-year old boy, Arturo Marquez Jr., was hit and killed when he tried to flee.

From the article and news footage:
A 14-year-old boy was shot and killed at a party in Stockton Friday night.

San Joaquin County Sheriff's deputies arrived at the scene on the 1900 block of B Street around midnight and found the teen, Arturo Marquez Jr., with a gunshot wound in his upper body, San Joaquin sheriff's Deputy Dave Konecny said.
Marquez was taken to the hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
Konecny said the crowd at the party started to separate when several gun shots rang out.
Marquez was attempting to flee from the shooting when he was hit.
UPDATE (3/15/12):  Arturo was a model student and a star athlete.  From a published letter by Arturo's principal

He was a Kohl Open School graduate, and in the years he was with us, we came to know and care for him as the fine young man he was.
Perhaps the two traits that emerge when we remember Arturo were his kindness and concern. We are a small school, and it was surprising even to us the number of younger students who remembered him fondly. He played soccer with them, he was a mentor to them, he worked in the classes with them, and the stories and memories continue to pour out.
Arturo also was a part of "Circle of Friends," Kohl students who come to school early two days a week to work at Walton Special Center with intellectually challenged students.
Soccer was Arturo's sport. He had been flown to Mexico to try out for teams there as well as being groomed to become a part of the U.S. Soccer Development Academy. He followed it closely and played with abandon.
Maybe the most important part of his young life was his wish to be a good student. There is no doubt that Arturo was smart, but we in education know that just being smart is not enough. Arturo cared about his education and worked hard to do his best.
(HERE is another touching article about the impact of Arturo on his community and family).

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