Officer Involved Late-Night Shootout [involving Cambodian-American Chomrean Meas]

Shot Stockton Officer Out Of Surgery

March 22, 2012
Sharokina Shams/KCRA

STOCKTON, Calif. (KCRA) -- In a news conference Thursday morning, the Stockton Police Department identified the teen who died after a shootout with officers.

He is 19-year-old Chomrean Meas, originally from Cambodia, Police Chief Eric Jones said.

The shooting also injured an officer. Keith Barry, who has been with Stockton police since 2004, was struck once in his lower abdomen, Jones said.

Barry is in "stable but guarded" condition at a hospital after he had surgery, Jones said. His wound is considered serious, the chief added.

New year makes nod to past

Children walk past the colossal statues Thursday at the Wat Dhammararam Buddhist Temple, which is hosting Cambodian New Year festivities through Sunday. (MICHAEL McCOLLUM/The Record)

Head monk Kuch Pum, from right, Kong Tith and Loun Yem apply flowers to a large mound of sand representing a monument to Buddha, a reminder of the ephemeral nature of life. (MICHAEL McCOLLUM/The Record)

Cambodian heritage a large part of traditional celebration

April 15, 2011
By Jennifer Torres
Record Staff Writer

Cambodian New Year

Cambodian New Year celebrations continue through Sunday and include entertainment, games, and food.

Location: Wat Dhammararam Buddhist Temple, 3732 E. Carpenter Road, Stockton

Time: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. today and Saturday; 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday.

STOCKTON - Around her neck, 20-year-old Narry Hoeung wears a locket with photos of her grandparents - her grandmother, who fled Cambodia when Khmer Rouge forces took hold of the country, and her grandfather, who did not escape but died in the campaign of killing that followed.

"In California, they tried to celebrate all the Cambodian customs that they can," Hoeung said of the Cambodian refugees who eventually settled in Stockton, "so that we, as a second generation, won't lose it."

On Thursday, Hoeung was with her sister at the Wat Dhammararam Buddhist Temple for the Cambodian New Year festival she has attended every year since her childhood.

Ground broken for heavenly structure

Monk Kong Tith, right, prays with other monks Sunday at the groundbreaking ceremony for the 90-foot “Heaven,” designed by Kong, at Dharmararam Buddhist Temple on Carpenter Road in south Stockton. Construction is expected to take six years. CALIXTRO ROMIAS/The Record

This is a drawing of "Heaven" as it is intended to look upon completion.

90-foot project expected to take 6 years to build

March 14, 2011
By Lori Gilbert
Record Staff Writer
Recordnet (Stockton, California, USA)

STOCKTON - Legend has it that "Heaven," as viewed by Buddha, should some day be re-created for all on Earth to see, according to Mon, an 83-year-old resident nun of Wat Dharmararam Buddhist Temple.

"No one's ever been able to do it," she said.

No one, that is, until now.

On Sunday, with government officials including Stockton Mayor Ann Johnston, San Joaquin County Supervisor Larry Ruhstaller and Sheriff Steve Moore on hand to support the project, temple members prayed and made offerings during the official ground-breaking of the planned 90-foot "Heaven," designed by monk Kong Tith.

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy meeting with supporters in Stockton, California

On 31 May 2009, opposition leader Sam Rainsy visited Stockton, California, where he met with several supporters. Please click on the 10 video parts on Youtube to view his entire speech.

Click here to link to the 10 video parts

Blessings for a peaceful rest

Four Buddhist monks lead dozens of residents in ceremonial prayer a day after two security guards are killed at an apartment complex

June 04, 2009
By Christian Burkin
also by Jennifer Torres
Record Staff Writers (Stockton, California, USA)

STOCKTON - With an invocation to Buddha, four monks from the Wat Dharmararam Buddhist Temple prayed to cleanse the Park Village Apartments and grant the spirits of the dead a peaceful rest.

Namo tasak peaka watow arahatow sama samphutasak.

The words were Pali, the language of Theravada scripture. They were repeated by dozens of residents who kneeled on mats spread in the parking lot where Claude Eugene McCormick, 50, and Oscar Cazares, 46, were found shot to death Tuesday morning. The mourners held incense sticks tied with marigolds. Many older women wore white mourning shawls around their chests.

"It's a part of the healing process," said Vanna Prasit, assistant director for the nonprofit organization that oversees Park Village. "Such a tragedy. We don't know how to deal with it except as a community. This is how we show respect."

Among those gathered was McCormick's friend Gladys Stokes, who was in Chicago when she heard news of his death. She flew home to Sacramento and then drove to Stockton, arriving at the Park Village Apartments just in time to sit for the ceremony.

"I don't know what they said, but they really cared," Stokes said.

Stokes said McCormick, a friend of 15 years, has family all over the South and in Northern California. A foster son lives in Sacramento. Stokes is arranging to return McCormick's body to Mississippi.

McCormick, Stokes said, had worked in security for about 25 years and never seemed to worry much about his safety until about six or seven months ago. Stokes didn't know the reason for the change, but she guessed McCormick's employer, Ad Force Private Security, might. Ad Force did not return a call for comment.

At the apartment building in midtown Stockton where Cazares lived, neighbor Larry Holman, 56, said he felt like a layer of safety had been taken from him. Cazares was built like a bear, Holman said, and never seemed scared.

"He was a brave man to go against people without a gun," Holman said. "He knew he had a job to do, and he just did it."

Officer Pete Smith, a police spokesman, said he had no new information about the killings to release Wednesday. He said investigators are reviewing security video but would not say what the footage contained. Smith said the Police Department is increasing patrols in the Oak Park area.

The Ad Force security guard patrolling the complex Wednesday wore a gun on his hip. In the afternoon, an elderly woman brought him an ear of corn for a snack. She brought more for journalists standing in the shade, waiting for the ceremony to begin.

Prasit said Park Village residents are confused and scared.

"It's shocking. But this is my home. I'm comfortable here. We'll do whatever we need to do to protect our residents," she said.

A community meeting is planned for this morning. Residents already have begun collecting money to pay for Buddhist ceremonies and to donate to the guards' families, Prasit said.

On Wednesday afternoon, Kunthea Tuy was gathering food offerings in preparation for four days of Buddhist mourning.

She lives at the complex and is a member of the community's staff.

"It's very scary," she said. "It's been OK here for a long time."

Tuy, like many of Park Village's residents, fled Cambodia after Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge forces took control of the country, eventually killing nearly 2 million people in a campaign of forced labor, starvation and execution.

At the end of Wednesday's prayer service, participants walked in a procession around the complex, then left their incense sticks on an altar arranged in honor of the guards.

It had mangos and doughnuts, flowers and cups of Starbucks coffee. Lupe Martinez, a relative of Cazares', left candles with images of the Virgin of Guadalupe.

Contact reporter Christian Burkin at (209) 546-8279 or cburkin@recordnet.com.