After Stockton Mass Shooting at Children’s Party, Officials Warn Against Retaliation

After four people, including three children, were killed and 11 others injured in a mass shooting at a birthday party in Stockton on Saturday, local representatives and community leaders pleaded for an end to crime and violence.

Those who were killed were 8, 9, 14 and 21 years old. At an interfaith vigil for the victims on Sunday, Stockton Mayor Christina Fugazi urged unity to a crowd of more than 100 people, many of whom held flowers or candles as faith leaders shared prayers and dedications.

“We have to focus on supporting one another, reaching across the aisle, extending a hand to everyone in this community,” she said. “Everybody deserves to live in a safe city. And if you are thinking about any type of retaliation, put the gun down. We do not need any more bloodshed in this city. … Let this not be in vain.”

Fugazi said Sunday that the shooting had been gang-related, but the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office did not confirm that allegation. Authorities, including Stockton police and federal agents, are continuing to investigate but have not named any suspects or made any arrests.

The gunfire erupted just before 6 p.m. Saturday, when at least one gunman entered a banquet hall on Lucile Avenue in Stockton, where a large family gathering was taking place.

Sheriff Patrick Withrow said he believes that the shooting began inside the hall and later spilled outside. The department believes that multiple shooters were involved.

Sheriff’s officials are confident the shooting was a targeted act, Withrow said, asking anyone in the community with information to come forward. Vice Mayor Jason Lee echoed Withrow’s sentiment and urged community members not to pursue retaliation.

“It’s human to want to hurt people who hurt people you love,” he said at Sunday’s vigil, coordinated by the Central Valley community organization Faith in the Valley. “I hope that the people out there in our community make the right choice and contact law enforcement, call me, call the mayor, call whoever.”

“Parents brought their children out, and they left with medical examiners. That is not human,” he continued.

All of the speakers urged Stockton residents to come together, noting deep divisions among Americans on the national and local levels.

“What we’re experiencing now, times of tragedy and chaos, is the exact time where the people are filled with the spirit of God,” said Nuri Muhammad, a student minister for the Nation of Islam. “The spirit of change can come together in a time of tragedy to make the kind of changes that are needed in this city to produce a new reality for our people.

“We can make this change that needs to happen in our city,” he continued.

Sheriff’s detectives, along with the California Department of Justice, finished processing the crime scene around 3 p.m. Sunday, nearly 24 hours after the shooting.

Withrow confirmed that at least one firearm was recovered from the building’s roof, and several vehicles were towed from the site. He said department officials observed multiple vehicles with bullet holes near the building.

Withrow said it wasn’t yet clear if all or any of that evidence was related to the shooting, adding that the investigation was still in very early phases.

“We are diligently following up everything that we have so far,” Withrow said. “We will follow every single lead and be very detail-oriented so that the moment that we have these subjects in custody, we will be able to hold them accountable and our [district attorney] will be able to charge them and make sure that they will never be able to do this again to anyone else.”

As of Sunday night, at least one person remained in critical condition in addition to the victims who were killed. Withrow said the status of the others is unknown.

The San Joaquin County coroner’s office had not confirmed any of the victims’ identities, and Withrow said he didn’t know if any were related.

On Monday, family members said 14-year-old Amari Peterson of Modesto was among those who had died.

“Amari was a football player, a basketball player, a brother, son, and cousin,” Aresha Mackey-Mosley, Peterson’s aunt, wrote on a GoFundMe page set up to pay for funeral arrangements.

She described him as “a bright, loved, and promising young soul whose life was taken far too soon by a senseless act of violence.”

Fugazi told The Stockton Record on Sunday that the 8-year-old victim was a Stockton Unified School District student. She said the child’s parent works for the district.

“I can’t imagine a parent burying their child, what that must feel like,” Fugazi said. “They should be making their Christmas list, wrapping presents, looking forward to Christmas Eve. And they’ll never have that opportunity.”