Hundreds of Westbrook High School students, recent graduates and young people from Greater Portland gathered Sunday night at a Portland funeral home to say their final goodbyes to 19-year-old Treyjon Arsenault, who was fatally shot in Portland’s Old Port last week.
People of all ages lined up in the heavy rain 15 minutes before calling hours were scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. at the Jones-Rich-Hutchins Funeral Home on Woodford Street, and the line extended out the door for nearly two hours as they waited to pay their respects to Arsenault’s family inside.
Police have yet to make any arrests in Arsenault’s shooting late last Monday night at Da Block Studios Inc., an independent recording studio on Market Street, and a 20-year-old man who was shot in the same incident remains hospitalized.
Those who knew Arsenault from Westbrook High before he graduated last year struggled to make sense of why the former co-captain of the football team who touched so many with his friendly personality was killed so violently.
Noah Collins, 19, described Arsenault as like a brother to him. He wiped away tears after passing through the line in the funeral home and described the day as “really hard.”
Collins was Arsenault’s co-captain on the football team, his fellow linebacker and so close to him as a teammate that the two could coordinate defense on the football field without saying a word.
“I know everyone here he affected in some way. It doesn’t matter how he knew you, he touched your life in some way,” said Collins, who also graduated last year.
Natalie Brackett, a 16-year-old Westbrook High sophomore, said she met Arsenault in the beginning of her freshman year.
“He was the type of guy who would make you feel comfortable no matter where you were, even if you didn’t know anyone,” Brackett said.
Another Westbrook sophomore, 16-year-old Sarah Terrano, said she found out by text message last Tuesday before getting to school that Arsenault had been killed.
“I’ve never seen Westbrook High School like that before. All the halls were quiet. Even the teachers, they were all upset,” Terrano said.
A uniformed Portland police officer stood at the door of the funeral home, and several plainclothes detectives stood inside into the evening. But Arsenault’s family and friends grieved in quiet sorrow. There with no outbursts and no unexpected guests.
Police were unsure what to expect after at least two people arrived at a candlelight vigil for Arsenault last Tuesday in Westbrook openly carrying handguns at their sides. Others at the vigil talked openly of street retaliation against the shooters.
Police have said they are seeking “at least two” shooters and that the shooting was not random. Police have yet to publicly identify the hospitalized man, but Arsenault’s parents have said Arsenault was a bystander and not the intended target.
Arsenault’s mother and stepfather – Nancy and Donald Laxson – who raised him, stood at the head of the receiving line at the funeral home with Arsenault’s biological father, Turhan Walker, for hours greeting everyone in the long line that wound through the building.
In the receiving room, those paying their respects walked past a long row of flowers, an urn bearing Arsenault’s ashes, pictures of him on easels and his high school football jersey, blue number 54, hung up.
Arsenault’s football coach, Jeffrey Guerette, came out of the room with a crowd of young men all wearing their white football jerseys over their shirts and ties.
“We got together as a team Friday afternoon and made plans to have a bunch of guys here for Trey. They all wanted to be here for him and to support his family,” Guerette said. “It’s been an emotional week. I think we really stressed supporting each other, and I’ve gotten a lot of support from a lot of people.”
Guerette said Arsenault was such a friendly, outgoing and personable young man that he was not surprised so many turned out to remember him.
“I knew there would be a huge turnout, people from all cross sections of Westbrook High School and the Greater Portland community. It is really touching,” he said.
Arsenault’s funeral Mass will be held at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic Church in Scarborough.
Scott Dolan can be reached at 791-6304 or at:
Twitter: scottddolan
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