On the evening of December 18, 2010, 16-year-old Ariel Velasco was shot and killed while walking with two friends along Anderson Road in Boardman, Oregon. The three were headed to a party around 7:45 p.m. when five individuals in dark hooded clothing blocked their path. The group ran; gunfire followed. Ariel cried out that he had been hit, ran a short distance, then collapsed. A friend, 19-year-old Juan Pellez, stayed with him until an ambulance took Ariel to Good Shepherd Medical Center in Hermiston, where he died.

Boardman police and the Morrow/Umatilla County Major Crimes Team investigated, describing the homicide as possibly gang-related and saying it appeared to be a conflict between two groups; the Morrow County District Attorney cited evidence from Ariel’s MySpace page. Family and friends strongly denied any gang involvement and said the family was being unfairly targeted. By late December 2010 no arrests had been announced and the shooter remained at large.

Did anyone in Boardman see the group on Anderson Road that night or know more about the conflict between the two groups?