Stunned Wilson High students grieve for slain [Cambodian-American] classmate

Odell Smith, 16, covers his face and grieves with fellow Woodrow Wilson High students at the spot where Melody Ross was shot and killed. "I just saw her moments before she was shot...she was smiling," said Smith. (Barbara Davidson/Los Angeles Times / November 2, 2009)

Melody Ross, a pole vaulter, was well-liked and had a positive attitude, friends say. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times / October 31, 2009)

Friday night's shooting jolts parents who consider campus to be the safest school in Long Beach.

November 3, 2009
By Seema Mehta
Los Angeles Times

Mourning students at Long Beach's Wilson High School gathered Monday by the pavement where classmate Melody Ross was shot after the homecoming football game. Leaving handwritten notes to Melody and her family, the teenagers lit candles and shed tears as they remembered the bubbly 16-year-old.

"Why her?" asked sophomore Micah Mathis, 15, who took French with Melody, an honors student. "That's what I want to know."

The mood at the coastal campus was somber as students, teachers and administrators struggled to comprehend what occurred Friday, when someone fired into a crowd of students leaving the game, striking three people, including Melody, who was fatally wounded.

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