Vigil held to remember Worcester teen killed in Saturday night shooting

WORCESTER, Mass. — Friends gathered at Hadwen Park in Worcester Sunday afternoon for a candlelight vigil, remembering the life of a 17-year-old who was shot and killed Saturday night.

The fatal shooting happened on Park Avenue near the parking lot of a Wendy’s, according to Worcester Police. Because the teen is a minor, Boston 25 News is not naming the victim until he is officially identified by police.

“He was 17 and he was a freshman in college,” said D.T. Sosa, a close friend of the victim.

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Sosa said the teen was reliable, respected nightly curfews and always answered a phone call from his mother.

“No matter where he was, he would always answer his mother,” Sosa said.

Tam Nguyen, another close friend of the victim, said he organized Sunday’s vigil because he felt it was the right thing to do.

“I’m so numb now because I cried all my emotions out,” Nguyen said. “The pain. I lost my best friend. The only person that would come to my house without permission, would pick me up with no permission, my parents didn’t trust anybody but him.”

Nguyen told Boston 25 News that the victim’s brother called him after the shooting occurred.

“I was like, ‘what happened?’ And he was like, ‘my brother got shot,’” he explained. “I was in disbelief and I was like, ‘he just came back from the mall.’”

Nguyen said he rushed over to the Wendy’s after that.

“I pulled up to the scene. Police were everywhere, I saw his white Chevy and I broke down,” Nguyen said.

According to Worcester Police, the 17-year-old died in the parking lot around 8:36 p.m.

Several friends at the vigil expressed hope that law enforcement would find the person responsible for the shooting.

“I hope justice is served, people find who he is – who the person is, and that’s it,” Nguyen said.

At the time of this posting, no arrests in the case had been made.

“If you have information about this incident, please send an anonymous text to 274637 TIPWPD + your message or send an anonymous web-based message at worcesterma.gov/police.” Worcester Police wrote on their official Facebook page. “Calls can also be made to the Worcester Police Detective Bureau at (508) 799-8651.”

Cox Media Group