|
|
|
Uploaded: Wednesday, January 28, 2009, 12:55 PM
Updated: Thursday, January 29, 2009, 9:48 AM
Services for slain teen set for Saturday morning
High school holds memorial for students to talk about their classmate
|
|
by Geoff Gillette
Photos
 
| Funeral services are Saturday for 17-year-old Rylan Fuchs, the San Ramon Valley High School senior who was shot and killed in front of his home last week.
Teenagers at SRVHS paid their respects and reminisced about their slain friend at a special on-campus memorial Wednesday after school. Students have also been collecting money and selling memorial T-shirts to help the family pay funeral costs, and Primo's Pizza and Pasta is donating a portion of its profits from Wednesday evening to help the family.
The funeral is set for this weekend, with a viewing from 4-8 p.m Friday at Wilson & Kratzer, 825 Hartz Way in Danville. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday morning at Crosswinds Church, 6444 Sierra Court, Dublin.
Meanwhile the investigation into Fuchs' death continues, with the arrest Jan. 23 of a 15-year-old male from Alameda County. Danville Police Chief Chris Wenzel made the announcement at a Friday press conference. "At approximately 2 a.m. Danville police developed information on the whereabouts of the suspect. Detectives from the Sheriff's Department located the suspect in the city of Oakland with the assistance of Oakland P.D."
Officers arrested the teenager at the home of a relative. He was taken into custody and was transported to the Martinez Juvenile Detention Center. Because of the suspect's age, Wenzel did not provide an identity of the suspect although he did confirm that he had lived in the Danville area previously.
Wenzel said the motive for the shooting may have been drug related.
"There is still a lot of work to do on this case," Wenzel said. "Many more interviews need to be conducted. The report still has to be filed with the DA's office, which will be reviewing the case."
Attorney Dan Cabral is handling the case for the District Attorney's Office. Cabral said at press time Wednesday morning that the suspect is being held on an unrelated charge and no murder charges have yet been filed. "The investigation is continuing," he explained. "We don't know yet if murder charges will be filed, or if he'll be charged as an adult."
Cabral added that since the suspect is currently in custody it gives them the time to complete the investigation. "They (detectives) are doing a thorough job and we want to make sure the investigation is completed."
News of the arrest did little to assuage the grief and anger being felt by Rylan Fuchs' girlfriend, Paulina Wszolek. Wszolek, 16, a junior at California High School, attended the press conference to hear what was being done in the investigation.
The arrest helps, she said, but doesn't answer all the questions she has about her boyfriend's murder. "I want to know how it happened, I want to know why it happened."
Wszolek and her mother, Grace, spoke with reporters about the slain teenager. "He just had such a good heart," Grace Wszolek said. "He trusted people too much. He was just such a good boy."
Fuchs' stepfather Ron Harmon said Rylan came home around 8 p.m. that night after going to the gym and visiting his girlfriend. As far as he knew, Rylan was still in the house an hour later at the time of the shooting.
"He came out of his room with his dinner dishes and I swear it wasn't two minutes later and I heard a 'pop,' then a kind of thump on the front door," a still shaken Harmon said the day after Fuchs died.
He and his wife Karen Williams were in the house watching television when he heard the noise and he rushed to the door, thinking that it was neighborhood kids fooling around.
"I was going to scare them," he said, "and I pulled open the door and he tumbled in."
Harmon said at first all he could see was the blood.
"I grabbed him and I thought, 'This kid's hurt.' Then I realized, 'Oh my god, that's my kid.'"
Harmon said he yelled to his wife to call 9-1-1 and to his 9-year-old stepson to get some towels to help stop the bleeding from the wound to his throat.
Fuchs was transported to San Ramon Regional Medical Center, but was then moved to John Muir in Walnut Creek. Despite two surgeries to stop the bleeding, the teen died early the next morning.
"The sad part of this scenario is that two families lives will be ruined," Harmon said. "Ours because we lost a son. And the family of whoever did this to him. Theirs is probably never going to see daylight again."
Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.
|
|
| Comments
|
Posted by Hmmm, a resident of another community, on Jan 28, 2009 at 3:15 pm Support your local drug dealer tonight at Primo's.
Its sad he lost his life, but I hope this is a lesson to all those wannabe gansters living the the suburbs- You deal or do drugs you are apart of this. If you bought drugs off Rylan- you helped kill him just as much as that 15 yr old.
|
|
Posted by Diane, a member of the Greenbrook Elementary School community, on Jan 28, 2009 at 5:54 pm Hey there Hmmmm - We're supporting a grieving family that lost a child. I grew up in the inner city near NY and have learned that kids lose their way sometimes (though I don't know the details of this boy's life and neither do you). I'm glad we are living in this community - we see the value of coming together to support this family. I must say, I'm relieved you are not a neighbor.
|
|
Posted by SRVHS MOM, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Jan 28, 2009 at 10:21 pm Wake up people of Danville!!! Yes, it's sad this kid died from a drug deal. It's very clear he was making the wrong choices. He put himself in this situation and his parents ignorance kept him in the situation. For reasons unknown to all of us..It's very, very sad...
One thing that seems to be clear is according the kids he was the local "hook up" at the high school. According to the kids "he" was buying a large amount of pot from the shooter.. Just what do you guys think he was going to do with that pot? Duh! Sell it to his friends etc. on our local campuses /your kids/ our kids...Hello people of Danville we have a huge drug problem on our campuses. This is just not one kid on this myspace page....Everyone is so focused on the shooter "STOP" and take a look at our kids/your kids...Re-focuse on what our kids are doing...Stop glorifying this very unfortunate incident. Help your kids learn from it. Print this myspace page discuss it with your kids. If you know these kids talk to there parents. Get involved.
Web Link...
The district/parents/kids/authorities/community needs to WAKE UP and get involved to slow this down. The kids need to learn from this.. It's our job as parents/community/teachers to teach them. It's no different then when we all went proactive about drinking & driving. The statistics are way down. Yes, it still happens but not not like it us to.
My kid(s) tell me that kids buy all the time on and off campus.. "Mom everyone does it" my kid is a only a freshman... I can only hope by talking with my child and being involved that my child will continue to say no to drugs. But people of Danville need to pull there heads out of there A** & stop living in this bubble.
Yes, this area is a great place to live but only if we strive to keep it that way.. Come on people wake up & get involved.. Fixing the problem starts here in our town with our kids.
|
|
Posted by another mom, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Jan 28, 2009 at 10:24 pm Diane, here is the info you need to see on this child..Some of us do know the details.. Keep your kids safe.
Web Link...
|
|
Posted by another mom, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Jan 28, 2009 at 10:28 pm apparently this site does not want the explicit details. Just visit CC times/opinions/forums/15-year-old boy arrested in slaying of Danville teen.. Once you see the myspace pics of this poor boy and his friends. You may re-think your thoughts and start protecting your Greenbrook school elementary community.
|
|
Posted by Rob, a resident of the Alamo neighborhood, on Jan 29, 2009 at 7:30 am If you actually looked at the myspace page and not just the pictures you'd see that no one has logged into this site for over two years. He was 15 years old when all this occured. Are you saying it's not possible that he could not have changed at all during that time? And I keep hearing all this stuff that the kids at school are saying? It's all "a friend of a friend's girlfriend's cousin told me". Do any of you know anything that isn't hearsay? Or are you saying some of your perfect children 'hooked up' with him.
Yes, the shooter came from a group home here in Danville. So does that mean that all children in group homes are going to go out and sell drugs and kill people? No. It doesn't. There are plenty of good kids in bad situations who end up in group homes. And they could be great people if only given a chance. But let's not give them that in Danville. God forbid.
And as for packing the town council meeting saying there shouldn't be any group homes in Danville, what comes next? Will you all be grabbing your tar and feathers and running all the homeless out of town on a rail? Or maybe you should put up a big wall around the town and set up checkpoints to allow people in and out.
You all should realize you don't live in a bubble, as much as you want to. There is drug abuse, alcohol abuse, sexual abuse, crime, prostitution, all going on here. What makes this a good place to live is people's willingness to come together and help each other make solid neighborhoods. Not make kneejerk reactions and blame everything on a bunch of disadvantaged kids.
|
|
Posted by SRVHS MOM, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Jan 29, 2009 at 12:14 pm If you actually knew how to use myspace and logged in you'd see that the kids comments are recent, hence the R.I.P. If you entered into some of the other kids accounts you'd also see current comments..It's called digging a little deeper..Parents stop looking at just the surface. Create your own accounts. Check out what your kids are doing. It's not hard to do.
My comments are directed to the parents. Get involved, know where your kids are, know who there friends are.. Hold them accountable for there where abouts & there actions.
Again, it's sad that a child lost his life I can't even imagine. But lets stop glorifying this. It was drug related. That's a fact..
As far as your group home comment. I've not made one comment about group homes in Danville.
|
|
Posted by Rob, a resident of the Alamo neighborhood, on Jan 29, 2009 at 1:46 pm Actually I did dig deeper and I do know how to use myspace. And facebook and twitter and all the other little "social" tools. Most of the comments made were certainly indicative of him being in the drug culture. But again that didn't mean he was this 'main hookup' drug kingpin that people are trying to make him out to be. Maybe he was, I don't know. But I also know that when something like this happens the rumors are bound to fly. And I know that since it's not your kids and your family you don't care but I'm sure Rylan's friends and family do care when they read these comments, rumors and blatant speculation from people who either didn't know him or barely knew him.
Plus since you looked at some of the people on there, did you happen to see the kid who was a frequent poster who on his page talked about putting himself in rehab? Or how he'd been clean for the past two and a half months. Trying to make a fresh start? I'm sure he doesn't deserve a break either because he did drugs.
And let's get one thing straight since the view from your high horse may be a bit obscured. No one is glorifying him. People are sad and upset at his loss. No one is trying to say he was some saint who spent his weekends at church and his weeknights reading to the blind andhelping little old ladies cross the street. He did drugs, which ones we don't know but he did them. And he did not deserve to die for doing them.
As for the group homes comment, I was referring to other posts on that subject. I chose to respond to all the rhetoric in one post rather than spam several across this thread answering each one.
I agree that we all need to sit down and talk to our children and be accountable as parents. I just don't agree with the rhetoric that this is not a tragic waste of a young man's life. Two young men's when you think of the shooter most probably going away for the next few decades.
|
|
Posted by Diane, a member of the Greenbrook Elementary School community, on Jan 29, 2009 at 4:59 pm SRVHS Mom, In addition to my 5th grader I have a Junior at SRVHS and a graduate from the high school, and I didn't consider my community immune from the drug issues that plague our children before this shooting or afterward. I do not need to see this boy's MySpace page - it would not be an "eye opener" for me as they have always been wide open, and I reserve that action for his friends and family to use is as a vehicle for their grief. It seems that your reaction to this tragedy is to blame the parents and become hypervigilant - this is your choice. I choose to continue to be an involved parent to my children, recognize that this boy was a child and not a monster, and express empathy for the loss that the community has experienced. I'm not glorifying anything, but this will not remove by ability to feel sadness for the loss of a child.
|
|
Posted by Wake up call, a resident of another community, on Jan 29, 2009 at 5:35 pm Post removed due to disrespectful comment or offensive language
|
|
Posted by a parent, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Jan 29, 2009 at 6:24 pm Looking at a myspace page may give a glance into a life, but making it into the whole picture is tunnel vision at its worst. To think you truly know the details of someone's life simply by viewing their myspace page and looking at those of friends is borderline scary. SRVHS MOM, I don't know how you got from someone expressing sadness over the loss of a child to thinking the entire Greenbrook community has it's vision obscured (to put a polite twist on your analogy). You can both be aware of the drug issues AND be saddened by the loss of a young life. It seems that you have just been made aware that drugs are in the schools and are taking a rather manic approach to learn all you can about this particular child. Slow down - yes, protect your children and know what they are doing, but let those of us with some empathy grieve for this family and his friends.
|
|
Posted by A friend, a member of the Greenbrook Elementary School community, on Jan 29, 2009 at 7:31 pm To all the people who say he was a drug dealer and he asked for it, you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.Did you know him personally?No you did not.So it would be appreciated if you saved your gossip and negativity for a community who cared.We are all still greiving from this since it only happened a week ago.
|
|
Posted by A friend, a member of the Greenbrook Elementary School community, on Jan 29, 2009 at 7:31 pm To all the people who say he was a drug dealer and he asked for it, you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.Did you know him personally?No you did not.So it would be appreciated if you saved your gossip and negativity for a community who cared.We are all still greiving from this since it only happened a week ago.
|
|
Posted by Wake up call, a resident of another community, on Jan 29, 2009 at 8:15 pm SO A Friend-, so why was a gun brought to his home then? Why does his myspace and all of his friends refer to drugs in all of their posts? Why in those posts do they talk about scoring drugs from him and his friend Pat?
And why the hell do you white washed wanna b's try to act like gang bangers? You all are a bunch of fake a*s punks who need to learn a lesson. But let me guess, you were one of his friends who doesn't do drugs...Right.
|
|
Posted by Caroline - mom, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Jan 30, 2009 at 12:30 am Does no one care that a 17 year old boy is dead? Is he less of a human being if drugs were involved? Is there more value in some people than in others? My sorrow is for the loss of the life of a 17 year old boy. "There, but for the Grace of God, go I."
|
|
Posted by iCare, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Jan 30, 2009 at 11:49 pm San Ramon Valley CASA
Mission Statement
We are a community movement for drug-free youth in the San Ramon Valley.
We encourage change through education and alternative activities.
115-A Town & Country Drive, Danville, CA 94526
phone: (925) 743-3059, ext. 328
www.srvcasa.org
|
|
Posted by Richard, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Feb 19, 2009 at 11:32 am Wake up call is obviously a gang-banger of some kind. Nuf said. He actually said Rylan needed to learn a lesson. I think we all should learn a lesson from Wake up call and stop being such wimps. We need to strap up and stop importing punks like this into our community. We need to protect our kids first. The media has wanted us to constantly think of the group homes kids' needs, at the expense of our kids deaths. No no no. THis simply will not do.
|
|
Posted by Someone who cares, a resident of the Danville neighborhood, on Feb 20, 2009 at 9:10 am God bless both boys (one here & one in heaven) & their families!!! Both families need help so lets all do the right thing!!!
|
|
|
| |
|
Send this story
Print this story
