At the Jan. 23 funeral Mass of 4-year-old Roberto López Jr. --- shot by gang members a few steps away from his home --- Cardinal Roger Mahony called upon the community to support the family and to assist the police in fighting violent crime in the boy's Angelino Heights neighborhood.

Meanwhile, neighbors, activists and countrymen of the López González family expressed sadness and disappointment with local authorities, even as an arrest was made of a suspect in the Jan. 13 shooting. It took place less than five minutes after young Roberto had left his home with his oldest sister and a cousin to play at a learning center he used to visit almost every afternoon.

"The reason why they captured that man is because you spoke up immediately," Cardinal Mahony said, after close to 50 people at the funeral Mass identified themselves as the López' neighbors. "Gangsters are nothing but terrorists. They have rejected authority and turned to drugs. They are wicked and they are a few, whereas we are millions."

Among the more than 1,000 attendees at Roberto's funeral was Patricia Mendoza, 46, who has lived all her life in the area known as Angelino Heights and is a member of the Neighborhood Council-District 5.

"This is sort of an abandoned neighborhood, rejected, humiliated. What have politicians done with all the funds they should invest in these communities?" asked Patricia Mendoza.

Shootings are so common in the area that they have become a part of Echo Park's daily routine, and residents say schools in the area are overpopulated and understaffed, which makes them a haven for gangs.

"I remember that four years ago many students couldn't even graduate from Belmont High School because the school is so crowded that teachers cannot assist all of their students," Mendoza said.

Two months before, there had been a shooting close to their house, according to Araceli González, Roberto's 24-year old mother, who is eight months old pregnant with her fourth child.

"We do not have plans to move from here, at least not now," she told The Tidings the day before the funeral. "Anyway, wherever you go it is going to be the same," she added sadly.

But Cardinal Mahony's message was of one hope and action.

"We need to turn these neighborhoods into safe ones, places of peace, where children are able to play and walk freely. We cannot live behind closed doors," he said.

"We have to stay united with the police and they can turn the community into a safe place for everyone," he urged the mourners, saying it would be their way to show respect for the boy, also known as Robertito.

And respect is what people offered the López family in the days after the shooting.

"This hit home because I am very close to the boy's family and because in 1998 my father was killed the same exact way in front of his house in the area of South Central L.A.," recalled Gerardo Reyes, who said he was a "compadre" of Roberto López Sr.

"We won't let depression sneak in, we will combat it by supporting each other," added Reyes whose family, as were most of the families present in the funeral, hail from the town of Magdalena, in Puebla, Mexico.

The Lópezes had moved a year ago from East L.A. to live with Araceli's parents, sharing the house with her two brothers and their families. About 30 people live in the house, including children and adults.

Roberto Sr. has been unemployed for the last seven months, after working in the construction field. To bring some income to the family, he recently started selling fruits on the streets, and many times his sons Miguel, 8, and Roberto Jr. would go with him.

The day of the shooting he had gone to play baseball, his favorite hobby, with some friends at a nearby park, and left Robertito behind.

He was torn by the news of his younger boy's assassination. He used to call him "El Perrón," Spanish slang meaning "very bold, very courageous."

During the funeral, most relatives and close friends wore t-shirts with Roberto's nickname printed in large capital letters above the photo of the boy dressed in a Northern Mexican-style suit, boots and hat.

"He was always happy, friendly, playful, and he loved to dance," both parents said with tears in their eyes, a few hours before receiving their son's corpse at their home, where the vigil was held on Jan. 22.

"Tomorrow it can be another Robertito López if there is no action taken," said Juan Carlos Sánchez, a close friend to the Lópezes. He wrote the song "Corrido El Perrón," that he sang during the vigil at the family's request. "And the worst is that we are terrified by idiots carrying guns, who could easily be a 13-year-old."

At the end of the Funeral Mass, Cardinal Mahony urged the people to increase their faith. He asked them to keep reading their Bible. "It is a reminder of God's plan for us and of Jesus Christ's salvation."

Donations to the López González family may be made to Serafino González/Roberto López Jr., Wells Fargo, bank account 8046493014.