r.i.p Arturo Romero

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Apr 13, 2005
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HAYWARD — On the quiet street where 16-year-old Arturo Romero was found dead early Sunday, a group of young people congregated by a memorial. A red T-shirt, bearing the penned remembrances of his friends, hung above a conglomeration of flowers, beer cans and empty bottles.
But some of the mourners weren't in the mood to discuss their friend — or the abrupt ending of his life — with outsiders.
"Do you know who did it?" one teenager asked a reporter. "Then leave. Just leave."
Around 1:40 a.m. Sunday, Romero's body was found on a dead-end street close to his family's home on Terrace Avenue. Police said Monday they had little information other than that he was fatally shot. "We don't really have much more than that," said police Lt. Reid Lindblom. "It could be he was killed where he was found."
Although police initially reported that the victim was 18, school officials and friends said he was younger.
News of Romero's violent death circulated rapidly among his friends and former classmates at Hayward High School, which he attended before enrolling in an independent study program at Brenkwitz Continuation High School.
Romero's family could not be reached for comment Sunday or Monday. Friends and acquaintances, however, described him as a well-known, outgoingperson who enjoyed playing soccer and football with his friends.

Danielle Bolander, who had known Romero since kindergarten, said she learned early Sunday that her friend had been fatally shot.
"He was cool with just about everybody," Danielle said, wiping her swollen eyes with the hood of her sweat shirt as class let out for the day. "You'd never see him down or depressed about anything. He was always the one to cheer you up."
Additional counselors were sent to the school Monday morning, said Debra Calvin, a Hayward School District administrator who oversees Hayward High School.
At lunchtime, a number of students from Hayward High walked a few blocks to the scene to grieve, said Derek Alcantar, a sophomore at the school. "It was real quiet at lunch," he said.
Derek said that although he didn't know Romero well, the tragedy disturbed him. "It makes you want to take that extra look behind your back when you walk home," he said.