STOCKTON, Calif. – A 2-year-old’s birthday celebration turned into a war zone Saturday night when multiple gunmen opened fire inside and outside a banquet hall, killing four people—including three children—and wounding at least 11 others in one of the deadliest mass shootings in Stockton history.
Among the dead:
SUPPORT THE FAMILY - GOD BLESS YOU
14-year-old Amari Peterson, an eighth-grader described by family as “a sweet boy who was simply being a kid at a kids’ party”
21-year-old Susano Archuleta
An 8-year-old third-grader from Stockton Unified whose mother works for the district
A 9-year-old child
San Joaquin County Sheriff Patrick Withrow said between 100 and 150 people, many of them children, were inside the hall on East Main Street when the shooting erupted just after 8 p.m. Witnesses described people flipping tables for cover and hiding children inside a bounce house as bullets flew.
“It sounded like it was never going to stop,” one grandmother told CBS Sacramento, recounting a frantic call from her sister inside the venue. “Babies are everywhere, they’re on the ground.”
Mayor Christina Fugazi called the shooting gang-related and pleaded for federal help, saying, “We need more than a six-month task force. We need the full weight of the state and the country here now.”
Amari Peterson’s family pushed back on any gang narrative in their GoFundMe: “The only mistake this sweet boy made was being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
By Monday morning, Stockton Unified had crisis counselors at all 55 campuses. The 8-year-old victim’s classmates were told of the death together; grief packets were delivered to the child’s mother, a district employee.
San Joaquin Delta College and local churches opened their doors for counseling, while teddy bears, balloons, and candles piled up outside the still-cordoned-off hall.
No arrests have been announced. Detectives say multiple shooters are believed to be involved.
Four families are planning funerals instead of Christmas.
Stockton is heartbroken, exhausted, and demanding change.
Rest in peace, Amari, Susano, and the little ones whose names we’re still waiting to say out loud. 🕊️🎈 #StocktonStrong