Merced teen’s death ‘going to affect everyone’

Brandon Villegas was a warm, funny young man and talented swimmer at Merced High School whose tragic death touches nearly every student on campus, a friend and teammate said Sunday.

Villegas, 18, died Friday at a Modesto hospital, a day after suffering injuries from a self-inflicted gunshot at a shooting range in Merced, according to Deputy Anthony Bejaran of the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department.

“It’s hard. It’s always going to be different now with him gone,” said Josh Fluetsch, a close friend and teammate on the swim team. “He’s one of my best friends ever. I just never expected anything like that.”

Merced police responded just after 5 p.m. Thursday to a gun range in the 2000 block of East Yosemite Parkway and found the injured teenager. Investigators said the fatal injury was self-inflicted and foul play is not suspected.

Villegas holds at least one school swimming record, according to Fluetsch, and appeared poised to break more records this year.

“He was a great swimmer. He had so much potential,” Fluetsch said.

Villegas’ heartbroken teammates came together Saturday and managed to win the Central California Conference championships at Golden Valley High.

“They’ve had such a hard thing to try to deal with, that some of them were on the blocks crying before their race. Some of them surprised me by swimming their fastest times,” Bears coach Kit Grattan said Saturday.

Fluetsch described his friend as a warm, outgoing young man who was much loved on campus.

“He was funny; kind of just a big goofball, really,” Fluetsch said. “He was never mean to anybody, always was friends with everyone. This is really going to affect everyone at school.”

This story was originally published April 27, 2015 at 2:01 PM with the headline "Merced teen’s death ‘going to affect everyone’."