Vigil held for Venice lightning-strike victim

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Friends and family gathered Tuesday to remember a swimmer who was killed after lightning struck Venice Beach.

The informal vigil for Nick Fagnano, 20, was held at St. Charles Borromeo Church in North Hollywood.

"It's definitely going to be hard these next couple of weeks, I guess the rest of my life really," Fagnano's friend Brett Sesma said. "I'm thankful for the time I got to spend with him because it was amazing."

Friend Matt Cohen echoed those sentiments.

"He touched so many lives. Everywhere he went, his smile was infectious, his personality was incomparable," Cohen said.

Fagnano was swimming in the water and disappeared under the waves after a lightning strike on Sunday. The lightning was the first in at least seven years at a California beach.

Fagnano's funeral is set for 5 p.m. Thursday at St. Brendan Catholic Church, 310 Van Ness Avenue in Los Angeles.