Mass Shooting in Stockton
Authorities on Sunday released the ages of the four people fatally shot during a child’s birthday party at a Stockton banquet hall, including three children under the age of 15.
The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office said the deceased victims were 8, 9 and 14 years old, along with a 21-year-old adult. In total, 15 people were shot in the attack, which occurred just before 6 p.m. Saturday at a banquet venue in the 1900 block of Lucile Avenue, north of Stockton city limits.
Officials have not released any updates on the conditions of the 11 people wounded in the shooting.
Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Heather Brent said no arrests have been made. Investigators were exploring “all possibilities,” she said, and have not identified a suspect or motive.
San Joaquin Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Heather Brent gives an update on Sunday at the site of a mass shooting near Stockton. Brent said four were killed and 11 were injured in the shooting outside a child’s birthday party. Hector Amezcua [email protected]
Here is the latest on this shooting, just past 1 p.m. Sunday.
Residents react
Armando Reyez, 32, has lived for 11 years in the neighborhood where the shooting occurred on Saturday evening and now lives a few blocks east of the shooting site. Reyez wasn’t home at the time of the shooting but heard about it right away from a neighbor.
“It isn’t perfect, but not like this,” Reyez said of his neighborhood.
Reyez lives with his wife and two children, ages 6 and 4. Saturday’s shooting left him thinking of his loved ones’ safety. “Now I worry about my kids,” he said.
Emilia Soto, 53, was in her kitchen about two blocks west of the site when shots rang out. She does not know how many gunshots she heard. She tried to count “but there was too many,” she said.
Soto heard faint screaming and “so many sirens,” she said. She didn’t go outside but saw the flashing lights of first responders through her window.
This was the first time Soto had heard gunfire nearby in the three years she’d lived in the area, she said.
Yolanda Morgande lives with her husband about a mile northwest of the site, which was near a Dairy Queen. “We’re at the DQ almost every day,” she said. She and her husband, both chaplains at The Word Church, came to the crime scene to pray and offer support to community members and first responders, she said. Morgande brought a sign that said, “Jesus loves you.”
They invited other members of their congregation to join them and about a dozen, including some young children, showed up at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
“This violence has been plaguing our city for a while,” she said. Morgande found the online discourse about the shooting demoralizing, she said. “So many comments were like ‘it’s just Stockton,’ but the violence shouldn’t be normalized,” she said. “We live here. We don’t want our grandkids thinking violence is alright.”
Tragedies like this bring the community together, Morgande said. “The community, the churches, come out to help each other,” she said.
Marla Dunn, 47, was born and raised in Stockton. She lives a mile from the site of the shooting, which she said was “just terrible.” She attends a nearby church.
“We’re all praying for them,” Dunn said. The neighborhood has changed since Dunn was a girl. “There’s more trash, more homeless, but it’s still a good place to live I’d say,” Dunn said.
3 p.m. vigil planned near shooting site
Stockton faith leaders said that they were planning a vigil at 3 p.m. Sunday close to the site of the shooting.
Richard Stoeckl, a community organizer for Faith in the Valley, which is organizing the vigil, said that he would be heading out shortly to find a location. He said that he wanted a spot “hopefully within 100 yards” of the scene of the shooting, but that his group would be respectful of police tape as deputies continue their investigation.
He said he would try to hold the vigil on the 9300 block of Thornton Avenue.
“Our hope is just to pray over the city, to give space for clergy to create an atmosphere that the city can grieve,” Stoeckl said.
He noted the age of the victims.
“In our city, we don’t really think of those type of things happening,” Stoeckl said. “But… people getting hit by gunfire and mostly children – that’s disgusting.”
The vigil is open to people of all denominations and faiths. Stoeckl said that it would include elected officials, though he didn’t want to give the names of any who were planning to attend.
An ATF officer talks on his cellphone Sunday at the site of a mass shooting near Stockton the night before. Hector Amezcua [email protected]
Birthday party turns deadly
The shooting erupted during a child’s birthday party, according to Stockton Vice Mayor Jason Lee. The venue, known as the Monkey Space, is in a former children’s theater near Thornton Plaza.
The event had about 100 to 150 attendees, Brent said.
Investigators do not yet know if the shooting began at the banquet hall, Brent said. The shooting occurred shortly before 6 p.m. Saturday.
Sheriff’s personnel were on scene within minutes, according to Brent. Deputies responded after multiple 911 calls reported gunfire and victims, including juveniles. Video shared on social media showed medics treating at least one victim on the street outside the banquet hall. Clothing and debris were scattered across the pavement as deputies secured the area.
“Early indications suggest this may be a targeted incident,” the Sheriff’s Office said.
Authorities asked anyone with video or information about the shooting to contact the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office or Stockton Crime Stoppers at 209-946-0600.
Law enforcement officers investigate Sunday the site of a mass shooting near Stockton the night before. Hector Amezcua [email protected]
Shooting stirs memories of 1989 school shooting
Bishop Dwight Williams, 60 of New Genesis Outreach Ministries said he’s lived in Stockton his entire life. He said he remembered “very well” another of the city’s darkest days, when a gunman shot 35 children, five of them fatally, and wounded a teacher at Cleveland Elementary School on Jan. 17, 1989, before turning his gun on himself.
In general, Williams knows the critical remarks people can make about his city.
“I hear people say all the time, ‘Oh, you’re from Stockton? Oh, my God, you’re from that place,’” Williams said.
He’s quick to defend Stockton. “Stockton is a great city,” Williams said. “If I didn’t think Stockton was a great city to live, I wouldn’t have stayed here all my life.”
One of Stockton’s strengths, he said, is its diversity.
“Because of the rich diversity in Stockton, we are very good at coalescing together, regardless of ethnic lines, regardless of denominational lines, even regardless of philosophical lines, politically speaking to come together in moments like this, to try to be a support one to another,” Williams said.
Officials condemn violence, plead for help
San Joaquin County District Attorney Ron Freitas said his office would pursue maximum charges once a suspect is arrested.
“When this individual is caught, you have my promise that you will have the full force of my office’s resources in holding this individual fully accountable,” Freitas said at the scene. “Children should not be harmed by gun and gang violence.”
Mayor Christina Fugazi and other city leaders urged residents to come forward with any leads.
The San Joaquin County Sheriff is leading the investigation, supported by other agencies including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives. Thornton Road between Waudman Avenue and Wagner Heights Road remains closed, businesses shuttered.
“I’m heartbroken by the violence and tragedy in Stockton and the senseless loss of life that has resulted from this,” Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom, who represents the area, said in a statement. “My heart is with the families experiencing unimaginable pain and with those who have been injured.”
Law enforcement is seen near the site of a mass shooting near Stockton on Saturday. DANIEL LEMPRES [email protected] Law enforcement officers investigate on Sunday the site of a mass shooting near Stockton the night before. Hector Amezcua [email protected]
This story was originally published November 30, 2025 at 10:27 AM.
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Graham Womack is a general assignment reporter for The Sacramento Bee. Prior to joining The Bee full-time in September 2025, he freelanced for the publication for several years. His work has won several California Journalism Awards and spurred state legislation.
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Daniel Lempres is an investigative reporter at The Sacramento Bee focused on government accountability. Before joining The Bee, his investigations appeared in outlets like the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times.
