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Alameda Shooting
"Unlike neighboring Oakland, a city with one of the highest crime rates in the country, this is Alameda’s first homicide of the year."
By Caitlin Grey, 15
November 2, 2007
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Alameda isn’t a place known for violence. But on Halloween night, 15-year-old Alameda High student Ichinkhorloo "Iko" Bayarsaikhan fell victim to the city’s first homicide of the year. Youth Radio’s Caitlin Grey is also a student at Alameda High, and interviewed teachers and classmates about the impact of Iko’s death.
I’ve lived in Alameda for over ten years and I’ve never been afraid to walk the streets at night. But that all changed when I heard that a fellow student at Alameda High had been killed only blocks from my house.
On Halloween night, at about 10:30pm, 15-year-old Ichinkhorloo Bayarsaikhan was out with her friends at Washington Park—a place I’ve also been to with my friends many times. It’s a peaceful park, a popular spot for birthday parties and baseball games. The park is a lot like the city itself: a tranquil place for families according to Clarissa Yeo.
Yeo (On Tape)
I grew up in Alameda and Alameda has always been a changing community, however I’ve always thought it’s a good place to raise a family and that hasn’t changed since I was a child.
Caitlin
Misses Yeo is a Spanish teacher at Alameda High. Ichinkhorloo, known as Iko to her friends, was one of Yeo’s students and she remembers Iko fondly.
Yeo (On Tape)
She was quite quiet, but very nice…easy to get along with and smart as well.
Caitlin
Unfortunately I never got to know Iko personally. When I asked around campus for people who knew her, those who did were too traumatized to speak up. It’s probably because this sort of thing almost never happens in Alameda.
Unlike neighboring Oakland, a city with one of the highest crime rates in the country, this is Alameda’s first homicide of the year. Students here, like 17-year-old Ankitha Bharadwaj say Iko’s death has shaken their sense of security.
Bharadwaj (On Tape)
You hear all the time on the news about teenagers in Oakland getting shot, but you don’t think of that in Alameda ‘cause it’s such a safe community and it’s like this island in the middle of the bay and you don’t think that murders and shootings and stuff like that can happen.
Caitlin
The day after Iko’s death, our principal got choked up as he delivered an announcement honoring Iko and concluded with a moment of silence. As the day progressed, I noticed more and more posters lining the halls commemorating Iko. And later that night on MySpace, I saw many of my classmates had posted pictures of her and messages like Rest in Peace.
The search for Iko’s killer is still on. Back at Alameda High, students like sophomore Anna Varghees continue to feel the impact of Iko’s death.
Varghese (On Tape)
It’s kind of a time of need especially for friends and family and really for all of Alameda and especially our school because she was really one of us and now we’ve lost something like that and it’s pretty big.
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