Immigrants’ Dream Shattered : Violence: Family that left Pakistan to escape political turmoil mourns the loss of their teen-age son, who was beaten to death at Narbonne High School.

The Andleeb family moved here from Pakistan four years ago to escape the political violence of their native country, and to get a better education for their children.

That shattered vision of America loomed painfully in the background Friday as the Andleebs mourned the death of their 17-year-old son, Shazeb, who was beaten to death by more than half a dozen classmates during a nutrition break at Narbonne High School in Harbor City on Thursday.

“Please give me my son back,” the boy’s mother, Ghazala, sobbed to a reporter who visited her modest home in a small Lomita apartment complex populated largely by Pakistanis. “They killed my son.

“I blame the school because they didn’t help my son,” she said, her eyes bloodshot, her head cradled in her brother’s arms. “I want to kill those kids.”

Shazeb died over the most meaningless of things, according to friends and relatives who congregated at the family’s apartment Friday: a dispute over who could attend an upcoming party.

Days before, they said, Shazeb had written a friend’s name on the guest list; one of the alleged assailants crossed the name out and an argument ensued.

“I’m gonna get you,” is what the assailant reportedly muttered.

Police said they could not confirm the family’s version and had yet to determine a reason for the dispute, including whether gang or racial tensions played a role. They did acknowledge that it had been simmering for about three days. They have arrested six Narbonne students on suspicion of murder. Two students, Rene Nievas and Christian Bremmer, are 18. The names of the others were not released because they are juveniles.

Students strolling off campus during the lunch break Friday said the mood on campus was solemn, with many students in tears.

“I walked down the hall,” said one student, “and no one had a smiling face.”

According to police and witnesses’ accounts, the beating began as a one-on-one dispute when Shazeb was confronted outside his U.S. history class. One of the assailants pushed Shazeb, and Shazeb pushed back. Shazeb’s sister tried to pull Shazeb away, but the others had been planning to jump Shazeb and followed through with their plan.

Outside the campus’s career and counseling center, the assailants allegedly kicked and punched Shazeb, causing him to fall and hit his head on the concrete. The exact cause of death is unknown, pending the coroner’s report.

On Friday at the base of a tree next to where Shazeb was beaten, students placed bunches of flowers and left two poems to their classmate.

“Nothing right now can take the pain we’re going through away,” said one poem, signed by about a dozen students. “We’ll see you again in another place and another time.”

At the Andleeb apartment, Shazeb’s mother was surrounded by more than a dozen women wearing traditional robes and kerchiefs over their heads, many of them sitting on the floor. The family is Muslim; Shazeb’s father, a taxi driver, had gone to the mosque to pray.

A stranger, Hali Hertzmann, who lives across from the high school, had found the family’s address and had come with flowers. “Our thoughts are with you,” she had written on the card. “Everybody liked him,” Shazeb’s mother said.

“He was bright and studied a lot,” added the boy’s uncle, Parvez Sheikh.

Security was beefed up at the school, which normally has two armed officers. Added security and counseling is expected to last into next week, officials said.

The Los Angeles school board member who represents the area, Warren Furutani, said he will investigate the killing because Narbonne is an otherwise quiet school. Administrators say this was the school’s first on-campus killing.

“Is this an aberration?” Furutani asked, “or is there something below the surface?”

The flag in the school quad flew at half-staff Friday, and a petition drive opposing violence was started. School officials said they will also start a memorial fund in Shazeb’s name to promote nonviolence.

Shazeb’s family was planning to move to Canada in June to be with relatives and to seek a more peaceful country. They were waiting for Shazeb and his younger sister to finish their final exams.

Now, Shazeb’s mother says she may return to Pakistan. “He was gentle,” she said, and he was interested in computers. And then she added the worst part.

“He was only 17 1/2.”