{"id":32873,"date":"2024-04-11T12:53:25","date_gmt":"2024-04-11T19:53:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=32873"},"modified":"2024-04-11T12:53:26","modified_gmt":"2024-04-11T19:53:26","slug":"alberto-vargas-quero-mission-shooting-victim-arrived-in-sf-last-wednesday-by-friday-he-was-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2024\/04\/11\/alberto-vargas-quero-mission-shooting-victim-arrived-in-sf-last-wednesday-by-friday-he-was-dead\/","title":{"rendered":"Alberto Vargas Quero, Mission shooting victim, arrived in SF last Wednesday. By Friday he was dead."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"A by\u00a0ELENI BALAKRISHNAN<\/a><\/strong> APRIL 10, 2024, 11:14 AM (MissionLocal.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
Alberto Vargas Quero traveled from Venezuela to Colombia in search of a better life and, last year, voyaged to the United States. Only two days after arriving in San Francisco, he was gunned down.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Leer en espa\u00f1ol.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Friday, 23-year-old Alberto Vargas Quero had been in San Francisco for two days, and it was his first day on the job at Modern Hair Cuts on Mission Street. He hadn\u2019t eaten all day and was waiting for his lunch break when he stepped outside for some air. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minutes later, Vargas Quero was gunned down and killed in broad daylight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His friends and family, mostly Venezuelans living in Colombia, remember him as a quiet, polite, family-oriented person. After making his way to Colombia as a teenager, Vargas Quero last year made a grueling journey to the United States in search of better opportunities. He hoped to make enough money to buy his mother a house. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And he had just finally achieved the first step in his dream of eventually opening his own barbershop.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI told him papi, come back, but [he\u2019d say] \u2018No mom, I\u2019m going to help you,\u2019\u201d said his mother, Anmelys Coromoto Quero Rojas, breaking into sobs on the phone on a call from  Bogot\u00e1. \u201cHe was my only son, ma\u2019am, he was my support, he was the only one who helped me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whenever he could, Vargas Quero would send money to his mother, his ailing grandmother, and his pregnant sister \u2014 all now living in Bogot\u00e1. His sister remembered an instance before he left Colombia when Vargas Quero had only some $25 that he\u2019d recently earned. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe bought my grandmother a cake,\u201d said his sister, Luisana de los Angeles Vicu\u00f1a Quero. \u201cAnd he hadn\u2019t eaten anything all day. He preferred to buy the cake for my grandmother and celebrate her birthday.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luisana called her brother \u201ca kid in a man\u2019s body.\u201d Videos show him singing soulful ballads, or sending silly videos to his family using filters to enlarge his lips and alter his voice. His family and friends remember him loving music and soccer but said that his priority was always helping those around him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
An investigator with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner wheeling out 23-year-old Alberto Vargas Quero from the Modern Hair Cuts barbershop on Friday, April 5, 2024. Photo by Junyao Yang.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It is still unclear what prompted the shooting \u2014 surveillance video footage shows the shooter standing near a white car outside the barbershop and another man standing near the doorway. As Vargas Quero appears to turn back into the shop, the killer suddenly lunges at him.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An eyewitness earlier told Mission Local<\/a> that the shooter was in the white car when he fired the shots before driving off. The witness said that the shooter had been lingering in the streets for a while and \u201ceyeing [Vargas Quero] from inside the car.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though Vargas Quero did not have an easy life, he had an easy way about him, and his family remembered him as an unproblematic, humble person. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His best friend, Nazareth, said they met in 2017 on the trek from Venezuela to Colombia, where both were headed to seek better lives and opportunities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vargas Quero was 17, and Nazareth was 16. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe truth is, it was very complicated,\u201d said Nazareth. \u201cWe were just children, and it was difficult because we were just beginning to get to know the outside world.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, the pair worked together in construction in Colombia. When Nazareth later made his way to Arkansas, Vargas Quero joined him. It was his first stop in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His journey to this country was a difficult one as well; Vargas Quero\u2019s mother and sister said he had no phone or money, and had to work odd jobs like selling ice cream while relying on the generosity of others to make his way through Central America to cross the border. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than two months after leaving his family in Bogot\u00e1 in July, he arrived in the United States in September 2023, Luisana said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vargas Quero made his way to Arkansas to meet Nazareth, but after working some six months in a carwash \u2014 where Nazareth says the boss underpaid and overworked undocumented workers \u2014 Vargas Quero decided he\u2019d had enough. He set off to meet another friend in San Francisco. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
Alberto Vargas Quero, foreground, with a friend.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And last week he finally arrived, and by Friday he started his job at Modern Hair Cuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe sent me a photo with his friend \u2014 he was there, and he was happy,\u201d said Vargas Quero\u2019s father, Yordis Vargas Querales, who spoke with his son the same day of the shooting. \u201cI said \u2018God bless you,\u2019 and he said \u2018Amen.\u2019 He sent that word, \u2018amen.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vargas Quero, as always, was in touch with much of his family \u2014 his sister said he had sent her a \u201cbendici\u00f3n a la barriga,\u201d or a belly blessing, that day, and his mother had spoken with him as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, Vargas Quero\u2019s family is trying to navigate the bureaucratic system to bring Vargas Quero home, and get answers about his killing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The suspect, Alexander Martinez, 30, was arrested on Saturday in Richmond<\/a>. He will be arraigned in San Francisco court this afternoon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alberto Rafael Vargas Quero is survived by his mother, Anmelys Coromoto Quero Rojas, his father Yordis Ramon Vargas Querales, his sister Luisana de los Angeles Vicu\u00f1a Quero, and his grandmother Margeris Margarita de Quero Rojas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All interviews were conducted in and translated from Spanish.  <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Update: Alexander Martinez\u2019s arraignment today was delayed to April 17. He remains in custody.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ELENI BALAKRISHNAN<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

eleni@missionlocal.com<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

REPORTER. Eleni reports on policing in San Francisco. She first moved to the city on a whim more than 10 years ago, and the Mission has become her home. Follow her on Twitter @miss_elenius.More by Eleni Balakrishnan<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0ELENI BALAKRISHNAN APRIL 10, 2024, 11:14 AM (MissionLocal.org) Leer en espa\u00f1ol. On Friday, 23-year-old Alberto Vargas Quero had been in San Francisco for two days, and it was his first day on the job at Modern Hair Cuts on Mission Street. He hadn\u2019t eaten all day and was waiting for his… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32873"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32873"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32874,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32873\/revisions\/32874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}