Friends, family recall William Schettino's big heart

When a foreign exchange student at Bayport-Blue Point High School lost her camera filled with snapshots of America, junior William Schettino raised the money to replace it.

"Billy went out of his way to buy her a camera so she could take pictures again," one of Schettino's best friends, Madeline Higgins, 18, recalled Thursday.

Higgins and other friends gathered outside Schettino's Blue Point home, hailing the 18-year-old aspiring artist for making a "huge difference" at his school.

They struggled to cope with the news that he had been struck and killed Wednesday by a Suffolk County sheriff's office patrol car as he stood next to his disabled car on the Long Island Expressway in Ronkonkoma.

Schettino had been on his way to a class at Suffolk County Community College's Brentwood campus, his family said.

"Nobody knows Billy like we do," said a tearful Higgins, wearing Schettino's gray hooded sweatshirt. "We were his closest friends."

She cradled a picture of herself, a friend and Schettino, saying the three of them attended the senior prom together last year.

"He made a huge difference for this school," Higgins said. "He raised money. He designed our shirts. He made everyone laugh."

"It's a horrible thing," said another friend, Ashley Andrews, 20.

Hampton Zagger, 16, Schettino's cousin and next-door neighbor, also struggled to express her loss.

"He was my best friend, basically my brother. I've grown up with him my whole life," she said. "I'd do anything to get him back."

Outside the high school Thursday, junior Jackie Ruggiero, 16, remembered Schettino as a budding artist -- kindhearted and creative.

"Really talented," she said.

Anthony Annunziato, superintendent of the Bayport-Blue Point school district, also mentioned the story about the camera Schettino bought for the exchange student two years ago.

"Without any prompting, Billy took it upon himself to raise money, buy this young lady a new camera, which he then presented to her at the junior prom," Annunziato said in a statement.

"While this is just one example of Billy's compassion, it speaks volumes about the person he was," the superintendent said.

With Nicholas Spangler and William Murphy