December 21, 2007 6:00 AM
STOCKTON - A longtime leader and respected advocate for Southeast Asian refugees was killed early Wednesday evening, shot in the head outside his north Stockton office as he was leaving work.
Pheng Lo, 59, came to the United States as a refugee himself.
He moved to Stockton in the 1980s and for more than 20 years had led the Lao Family Community organization, which offers help with health, education and other social services.
According to a report from the Stockton Police Department, officers were called around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday to 2701 E. Hammer Lane, where Lao Family Community offices are located.
The department reported early Thursday that Lo was found with a gunshot wound to the head, but on Thursday afternoon, Pete Smith, a Stockton police spokesman, would not confirm the location of the gunshot wound.
Lo was taken to St. Joseph's Medical Center, where he died, police said.
Friends and colleagues said news of his violent death devastated and baffled them.
"He's been one of my best friends since 1986," said Sovanna Koeurt, who leads the Asian Pacific Self-Development and Residential Association, or APSARA. "He's very, very active. He advocates for the Hmong and Asian community. ... I'm shocked. We lost a great leader."
During the Vietnam War, Laotian Hmong, an ethnic minority group, were recruited by the CIA to fight communist forces as secret allies of the United States.
In 1975, after the war ended, communists took over Laos, sending thousands of Hmong fleeing to Thailand. More than 130,000 eventually were resettled in the United States, including about 8,000 in Stockton.
Lo worked to ease their transition into a new country and culture. At the same time, he encouraged Hmong youth to maintain the traditions of their families.
He and his wife, Doualy Ly, bought their first home in Stockton in 1989.
He worked to provide English classes and job training to recently arrived refugees and helped coordinate Stockton's Hmong New Year celebration.
"By doing this, we hope to maintain the culture and the traditions," Lo said several years ago about the annual event. "Otherwise, down the road, people will not recognize their culture or even the language."
The last time Kunthea Tuy, who also works at APSARA, spoke with Lo was about a week ago. He told her he was trying to find a way to send students to Laos to learn about their parents' homeland.
Mario Supnet of the Charterhouse Center for Families said he knew Lo through his service to the Stockton area.
"We all collaborate together," Supnet said. "The nonprofit world is such a close-knit community."
Koeurt said, "He had a big heart. He also was a hardworking person. He's a person who would not want to see people be oppressed. He wanted them to better their lives. He wanted to help the unfortunate people."
Stockton City Councilman Dan Chapman said he also knew Lo best through his service work.
"I think it's just tragic that someone who tries to do so much good for his community would die so tragically," he said. "It really is disappointing and hurtful."
Chapman said he is considering organizing community forums to discuss ways of curbing violence in Stockton.
"I just think that we, as a community, need to unite, even if it's in a grass-roots type of method, ... to talk about ways to combat what's going on in our community," Chapman said.
Mai Xiong, chairman of Lao Family Community's board of directors, said Thursday evening that he would be meeting with Lo's family to discuss funeral arrangements.
The Stockton Police Department has asked anyone with information on Lo's slaying to call (209) 937-8377.
Contact reporter Jennifer Torres at (209) 546-8252 or jtorres@recordnet.com
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071221/A_NEWS/712210324
