He was the eldest son and provider of his family. Fresno mass shooting changed that
Phia Vang, 31, is remembered by his proud father as “such a good boy.”
Seng Vang gushed about his eldest child Tuesday evening in their central Fresno home. The young man with a “happy joyous smile” helped financially provide for his family, including his ailing mother and five younger siblings, with the income he earned from his job at Quest Diagnostics delivering clinical lab results.
On Sunday evening, Phia was killed with three others in a senseless act of violence when unknown gunmen opened fire on people watching a football game in the backyard of another Fresno home.
The loss of Phia’s life has also hurt his family financially. The only income they now have is from Seng’s job at a supermarket.
“I don’t know how I’m going to carry on my future life, because there is nobody to help me financially or physically in our home,” Seng said through interpreter and community activist Paula Yang.
Of the shooting, Seng said, “Right now we’re all dark and don’t know what’s happening.”
A public memorial for Phia is planned for Dec. 22 and 23 at a funeral home at 1495 N. Chestnut Ave., Fresno.
Fresno City councilmembers announced Wednesday that they made a GoFundMe donation account to help all the families of Sunday’s shooting. Family of shooting victim Kou Xiong previously made another GoFundMe. Phia’s family hadn’t made one as of Tuesday.
Phia came to Fresno with his family from Thailand when he was 8 years old with other Hmong refugees, who fought for the United States in the Vietnam War. There are posters on a wall in Phia’s home of Hmong General Vang Pao and of Phia’s family sitting in the cockpit of a fighter plane.
Phia dreamed of visiting Thailand and Laos again. He was planning a trip to those countries next month.
He graduated from McLane High School in 2006, then got a job as a security guard. Seng said his son would have liked to attend college but it was too expensive, and he wanted to help their family financially.
“My son is a good son,” his father said. “He’s a good man.”
After four months working as a security guard, his good character caught the attention of a manager at Quest Diagnostics, Seng said, who invited him to apply for a job with their company.
During his free time, Phia was a fervent watcher of sports. A coffee table in his living room Tuesday displayed numerous football and basketball jerseys that Phia purchased. Seng said his son “liked everybody” – all the sports teams – and was amazed at the millions of dollars famous players made playing sports.
Phia also loved to sing and play the guitar and drums. His father shared a video of Phia playing the guitar alongside famous Hmong singer Xy Lee, who was also killed in Sunday’s shooting.
“Right now we feel like we’re in a dead end,” Seng said, “and every road is closed to us as a parent. … Now without my son, we don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to do.”
This story was originally published November 20, 2019 at 1:13 PM with the headline "He was the eldest son and provider of his family. Fresno mass shooting changed that."
