A shooter still on the loose claimed at least four lives when authorities say they opened fire on a banquet hall in Stockton, California, Saturday night during a birthday party.
Eleven more people were injured in what the local sheriff called a particularly callous and brutal crime.
“These animals walked in and shot children at a children’s birthday party, and none of us should stand for that,” Patrick Withrow, the sheriff of San Joaquin County, California, said at a news conference Sunday.
Here’s what we know about the shooting so far.
What happened?
At least 100 people were gathered at the birthday party, which was at a banquet hall on the 1900 block of Lucile Avenue in Stockton, when gunfire broke out shortly before 6 p.m.
The attack started inside the banquet hall and spilled out into the street. Multiple vehicles that appeared to have been hit by gunfire were towed as possible evidence.
Who are the victims?
There are 15 total victims of the shooting, four of them killed, including three minors.
Identities of the deceased have not yet been released, but they are aged 8, 9, 14 and 21.
Eleven more people were hospitalized following the shooting. At least one was in critical condition Sunday, and the conditions for the 10 others were not available, Withrow said.
A vigil was held Sunday in honor of the victims and included clergy leaders, families and community members who called for change and activism in the community to avoid this kind of violence in the future.
“Everybody deserves to live in a safe city,” Stockton Mayor Christina Fugazi said at the vigil.
The Stockton Unified School District said in a statement, “We will do all we can to support our students and our community,” and added that counselors and mental health clinicians will be available at all 55 district schools.
Who is the suspect?
Authorities are still searching for an unidentified suspect. Law enforcement officials have said there may be multiple shooters they are looking for.
Withrow said Sunday, “there appears to be multiple shooters,” noting that shell casings and rounds found at the scene — including firearms discovered atop a roof — were still being processed for conclusive evidence.
It is not clear whether anyone returned fire.
Authorities are now asking the public for help identifying and tracking down potential suspects. They have urged anyone with information about the attackers to reach out and are seeking video footage from Saturday night.
There is a $25,000 reward for any information that leads to an arrest.
“Whoever did this: You don’t need to see the light of day again,” Fugazi said.
The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office is leading the investigation. Heather Brent, spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, said the FBI, Stockton police and other law enforcement agencies were assisting with the investigation.
Also on Saturday night, Stockton police arrested five people, including one 16-year-old, on weapons and gang allegations in the Civic District, which is approximately 7 miles south of where the shooting took place. When they arrived on scene, police found two firearms.
Withrow, though, said it is not clear whether those people have any connection to the birthday party shooting.
Is there a motive?
“We believed it was a targeted incident, a targeted shooting,” Brent said.
Gang violence is suspected as a motive in the shooting.
“I have been told by individuals who were invited there were people there who had ties in the gang community,” Fugazi said.
Fugazi added officials believe the violence broke out “due to a beef between individuals. They wanted to send a message.”
She told NBC News that gangs are a problem in the city and that at least 100 known gangs operate out of this area of California.
“Gang violence exists in cities across the country, but this act was a pure act of terrorism. A complete, cowardly Terrorist Act!” Fugazi said in a Sunday statement.
But Withrow said Sunday that it is still too early to determine if this was a result of gang violence.
He said authorities are “confident that this was not a random act.”
“They walked into this area probably looking for someone in particular. This was not somebody who was unacquainted with them,” Withrow said of the attacker.
What have officials said?
“Our hearts break for their families and the entire Stockton community,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Sunday on X.
Stockton Vice Mayor Jason Lee said at a Sunday news conference that he was angry about the violence.
Someone went to a birthday party and “shot people’s children,” he said. “That is not human.”
San Joaquin County District Attorney Ron Freitas vowed that the community will have “the full force of my office’s resources” in holding the person responsible accountable.
“Let this ring perfectly clear, in San Joaquin County, violence of this nature has absolutely no place at any time, shape or form and children should not be harmed by gun or gang violence,” Freitas said in a statement.
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