STOCKTON\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Four people were killed, including three children, Saturday evening after a gunman entered a family event with 100-150 people at a banquet hall in Stockton, sparking shock and outrage in the community. Eleven others were injured.<\/p>\n
Authorities are still looking for the suspect and asked the community for tips and surveillance footage, but said there\u2019s no threat to the community. <\/p>\n
On Sunday, public information officer Heather Brent announced the ages of the four people killed: 8, 9, 14 and 21. Their names won\u2019t be immediately released.<\/p>\n
The shooting occurred just before 6 p.m., when the sheriff\u2019s office was flooded with 911 calls reporting a shooting, and saying children as young as 9 were bleeding, including a 15-year-old boy who was not breathing.<\/p>\n
Deputies responded to the 1900 block of Lucile Avenue near a Dairy Queen and found shooting victims in the parking lot, and a large number of people panicked and screaming.<\/p>\n
The sheriff\u2019s preliminary investigation suggests the incident was a targeted attack, Brent said. Investigators are still considering all possibilities, she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe individual responsible is still outstanding,\u201d said San Joaquin County District Attorney Ron Freitas during a press conference. \u201cIf you have any information as to this individual, reach out immediately. If you are this individual, turn yourself in immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n
Witnesses at the shooting described a lone gunman, 5-foot-6, wearing black pants, according to police dispatches. An area resident told ABC10 <\/a>that he heard several rounds of gunfire.<\/p>\n Speaking at the scene, Brent said deputies were still investigating whether multiple people fired guns during the attack. Victims were inside the banquet hall at the time of the shooting, she said.<\/p>\n Ambulances transported some of the victims, and others arrived at the hospital on their own, including two men who walked into St. Joseph\u2019s Medical Center with gunshot wounds.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is Thanksgiving weekend. This is when families come together,\u201d said Stockton Mayor Christina Fugazi. \u201cStockton is better than this.\u201d<\/p>\n On Sunday morning, the crime scene sprawled across several blocks as the region\u2019s famous tule flog blanketed the city in gray. <\/p>\n The shooting rattled the Central Valley community of roughly 320,000 people, which sits around 40 miles south of Sacramento. <\/p>\n So far this year, violence has slowed down in Stockton. A July report from Stocktonia<\/a> found that homicides fell 34% in the first six months of 2025 compared to the same stretch last year, and solved cases increased. One factor could be the Stockton Crime Stoppers hotline<\/a>, which paid out $44,000 in rewards following arrests last year.<\/p>\n Fugazi urged residents to call the hotline with anonymous tips about the shooter. <\/p>\n However, the city has still dealt with a handful of violent incidents in recent years. A serial killer<\/a> terrorized the community from 2021 to 2022, and Fugazi referenced a previous mass shooting in her press conference, in which three were killed and four were injured in a drive-by shooting<\/a> near a school in 2015.<\/p>\n \u201cUnacceptable. And what happened tonight? Unacceptable,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n \u201cTonight, my heart is heavy in a way that\u2019s hard to put into words,\u201d said Stockton Vice Mayor Jason Lee in a statement<\/a> posted on Facebook. \u201cI am in contact with staff and public safety officials to understand exactly what happened, and I will be pushing for answers.\u201d <\/p>\n Lee said in his statement that the shooting occurred at a child\u2019s birthday party. <\/p>\n \u201cGuns don\u2019t solve anything especially at a child\u2019s birthday party!\u201d Lynn Carver wrote on social media. <\/p>\n \u201cThis news is so heartbreaking. Prayers for these families!\u201d Dominique Williams wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cI truly wish our community could go back to the days where…crime wasn\u2019t like how it is now,\u201d Martice Lee-Rodriguez wrote.<\/p>\n