By Phillip Reese and Cathy Locke
preese@sacbee.com
Salvador Heredia-Arriaga wanted to give something back to his community, so after graduating from UC Santa Cruz, he moved home to Natomas, took a job as a substitute teacher and helped coach the high school football team.
"You have the privilege of going to college," his mother, Susan Heredia, vice president of the Natomas Unified School Board, recalled telling him. "Use that privilege to make a difference."
Late Friday night, two armed men entered an apartment on the 2600 block of River Plaza Drive in south Natomas and shot and killed Heredia-Arriaga, according to police. Heredia-Arriaga (left in photo supplied by his family) was 26.
Based on a preliminary investigation, detectives believe Heredia-Arriaga was just visiting friends when he arrived in the middle of a home-invasion robbery at the River Pointe apartment complex, interrupting the intruders.
After shooting Heredia-Arriaga, the robbers and ran away. As of this evening, they are still at large.
The suspects are described as black, in their late teens to early 20s, wearing dark hooded sweatshirts and blue jeans.
"He just happened to stop by three minutes too soon," his mother Susan Heredia said.
Heredia-Arriaga grew up in Natomas, attending local schools. His two passions were history and football.
Not content to just play, Heredia-Arriaga would study the game and try and dissect how it worked. A defensive lineman, he didn't let a lack of natural ability get in his way.
"Salvador was a very average athlete who had an incredible work ethic," said Terry Stark, who was the head football coach at Natomas High during Heredia-Arriaga's senior year. "He would do everything he could to get on the field.
"He ended up being a starter for us. It wasn't a great team, but, thanks partly to his leadership, we were able to get to 5-5 that year," Stark added.
After high school, Heredia-Arriaga headed to UC-Santa Cruz, where he majored in history.
"He read everything he could get his hands on," Susan Heredia said.
A good student, Heredia-Arriaga had a lot of options in front of him.
He came back to south Natomas and became the junior varsity football coach at Natomas High. He also started substitute teaching for the district.
"He was a coach for all the right reasons," Stark said. "He saw what the game of football could do for so many young men. He wanted to make sure they got they got through school and have the opportunity to go to college."
At the time of his death, Heredia-Arriaga was getting ready to go to law school, his mother said. He would have likely contributed greatly to the community that nurtured him.
"He was very conscious of social issues," she said, adding that he also worked with disadvantaged kids through a city of Sacramento program. "He had a desire to try to develop youth."
Call The Bee's Phillip Reese, (916) 321-1137.
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