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Two men arrested in fatal shooting at school
Police say slaying at Mendez Middle School was gang-related.

By Tony Plohetski, Joshunda Sanders

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF


Saturday, August 19, 2006

Austin police say the fatal shooting of a man on a Southeast Austin middle school campus Thursday night was the result of an unresolved dispute and was probably gang-related. They arrested two men in connection with the shooting Friday.

Investigators would not say what they think led to the fight in which Videl Dominguez Lopez, 21, was shot or why they think it involved gang members.

Two of Lopez's brothers, Paulino Dominguez Lopez and Baldemar Dominguez Lopez, said Friday that their younger brother frequently wore a bandanna and often was questioned by police about possible gang affiliations.

"He was not a gang member," Paulino Lopez said. "He was nothing like that. That is a lie."

Authorities said Friday that they will charge Rudolfo Orive, 20, with murder and Froylin Padilla Hernandez, 17, with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Both charges carry a maximum punishment of life in prison.

Orive and Hernandez, both of whom had attended Travis High School with Lopez, were being held at the Travis County Jail on Friday.

Authorities have said that the shooting at Mendez Middle School in the 5100 block of Village Square happened as a group of teens were preparing for a 15th birthday celebration.

Austin police Cmdr. Duane McNeill and homicide Lt. Pete Morin said they believe that Videl Lopez had stopped to watch the quinceañera, the traditional Hispanic 15th birthday celebration, when Orive and Hernandez spotted him and an argument began.

Hernandez threatened to shoot Lopez, police said, but Orive told him to let Lopez go. Police said Orive then shot Lopez in the head. McNeill described the incident as a "heat of the moment shooting."

Baldemar Lopez said his brother was supposed to participate in the quinceañera but did not know the family hosting the event.

Baldemar and Paulino Lopez said they migrated to the United States from Mexico with their brother at different times during the past several years. This raises my suspicions they were probably illegal.

"I wish I could change everything," Paulino Lopez said.

Austin school district records show that Orive dropped out of Travis High School in April 2005 as an 18-year-old ninth-grader, Hernandez quit in February while in the 10th grade, and Videl Lopez did not return after the 2004 school year for his senior year.

Paulino Lopez said his brother dropped out of school so he could work full-time at an Applebee's and most recently was working an overnight custodial shift at a golf course.

Lopez had been charged with engaging in organized crime and criminal mischief this year, stemming from the burglary of a car.

Arrest affidavits said Lopez was one of three men who broke into an SUV outside an apartment complex and stole its speakers in December. Police found items stolen from nine other vehicles in the car Lopez was driving, the affidavit said.

Public records show that Hernandez was charged with two counts of burglary of a habitation in December.

According to arrest affidavits, Hernandez, who is referred in court documents only as Froylin Padilla, and another man broke into two apartments on South Lakeshore Drive in Southeast Austin and took jewelry and electronic equipment.

On Friday, Mendez Middle School Principal Connie Barr sent a letter to parents to quell fears about the shooting.

"We are a safe campus. . . . The incident is upsetting, and we are here to address your concerns and the well-being of your child," the letter said. The letter says that a community meeting to discuss the shooting will be scheduled early next week.

Students didn't express interest in speaking to the additional school resource officer and four extra counselors at Mendez on Friday, district officials said.

"There was very little impact on the students," said Charlotte Winkelman, the district's supervisor of counseling services. "As far as I could tell, the day went on as though nothing ever happened."


tplohetski@statesman.com; 445-3605

Additional material from staff writers Raven L. Hill and Miguel Liscano.