Vigil planned for student from O.C. gunned down at S.F. rail station
Friends and former classmates of a college student from Orange County gunned down at a San Francisco light-rail station are planning a vigil in his honor Sunday.
Justin Valdez, 20, was attending San Francisco State University after graduating from Garden Grove High School two years ago, KTLA reported. He was shot to death before 10 p.m. Monday as he got off a municipal railway vehicle near Randolph and Bright streets, San Francisco police said.
Valdez was an accomplished swimmer and water polo player in high school, the principal told the San Francisco Examiner.
A vigil for Valdez will be held at Garden Grove High School’s pool deck from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Sunday, KTLA reported.
“He was one of the most persistently positive kids I ever knew,” Garden Grove High School Principal Steve Osborne told the Examiner. “Everybody is just devastated.”
Valdez was shot in the back of his head and the attack appeared “random and unprovoked,” authorities told the San Francisco Chronicle.
On Tuesday, police arrested 30-year-old Nikhom Thephakaysone in connection with the killing.
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