In Search of Xavier’s Shooter

Standing just a few feet from the flower-strewn spot where her son was killed by a stray bullet last July 4, Vicky Morales announced a substantial increase Thursday in the reward for information leading to the shooter’s arrest and pleaded for some closure to her heart-wrenching loss.

“It’s been the worst year of my life,” she said. “Our hope is that this will encourage anyone with information to come forward.”

Xavier Morales, 9, was watching fireworks at Boisseranc Park on Dale Street in Buena Park when he suddenly complained of a pain in his stomach and collapsed.

Police determined that the boy had been struck by a small-caliber bullet that plummeted through his right side, puncturing a lung and severing the aorta before exiting near his hip. Investigators said the shot was most likely fired from near the park.

“We firmly believe that the shooter knows who he or she is,” Sgt. James Banks, a spokesman for the Buena Park Police Department, said during Thursday’s news conference at the park. Though many leads have been investigated in the last year, he said, police are no closer to finding the culprit.

“Somebody out there knows what happened,” he said. “We need [him or her] to come forward so we can get some closure for the Morales family.”

He said the reward for information leading to an arrest had increased from $20,000 to $50,000.

The additional money, he said, was raised by friends and associates of Vicky Morales, who lives in Anaheim and manages apartments.

“The public’s involvement is crucial to bringing this shooter to justice,” Banks said.

In addition, he said, the Buena Park City Council has decided to close the park at 5 p.m. today, both to honor Xavier and to minimize the risk of another tragedy.

“There were close to a thousand people in the park the day it happened,” Banks said. “A contributing factor was all the illegal fireworks that masked the sound of the gunfire.”

Vicky Morales urged that instead of taking their children to a park, parents take them to enjoy the fireworks at public displays. “I don’t think the parks are safe anymore on the Fourth of July,” she said.

Her own family, Morales said, plans to spend the holiday next to her son’s grave site at Cypress’ Forest Lawn.