Authorities in California are urging witnesses of a deadly shooting at a child's birthday party to come forward as the search for a suspect stretches into another day.
Three children aged 8, 9 and 14 and a 21-year-old were killed Sunday evening (local time) when gunfire broke out at a banquet hall in Stockton where at least 100 people were gathered, San Joaquin County Sheriff Patrick Withrow said. Detectives believe the gunfire continued outside and there may have been multiple shooters.
Eleven people were wounded, and at least one is in critical condition, Withrow said. No one was in custody by Tuesday. The sheriff urged anyone with information to contact his office with tips, cellphone video or witness accounts.
"This is a time for our community to show that we will not put up with this type of behaviour, when people will just walk in and kill children," Withrow said Sunday evening. "And so if you know anything about this, you have to come forward and tell us what you know. If not, you just become complacent and think this is acceptable behaviour."
Sheriff's spokesperson Heather Brent said earlier that investigators believe it was a "targeted incident." Officials did not elaborate on why authorities believe it was intentional or who might have been targeted. She said investigators would welcome any information, "even rumours."
Roscoe Brown said the party was in honour of his brother's granddaughter, who turned 2 and was uninjured. Brown, who works for the city of Stockton's Office of Violence Prevention, was in Arizona when he learned about the shooting and drove straight to the scene. He said a niece and nephew of his were shot, and he knows several other victims. He didn't have information about their conditions.
"Who would come and do that to some kids, you know?" Brown told The Associated Press following a vigil organised by faith leaders to honour the dead and pray for the wounded. "You can't shoot up a party. That's senseless. A kid's party, at that."
Emmanuel Lopez told the Los Angeles Times his brother, 21-year-old Susano Archuleta, was shot in the neck and died at the scene. Lopez said his 9-year-old daughter was shot in the head but survived. He didn't share details about what led up to the shooting.
Stockton is a city of 320,000 residents about 130km east of San Francisco. Stockton saw 3680 violent crimes in 2024, at a rate more than double the state-wide rate, according to city and state data. Violent crime includes homicide, rape, assault and robbery. The San Joaquin Valley, where Stockton is located, had the highest violent crime rate in the state in 2023, according to data from the Public Policy Institute of California.
Hours after the shooting, the Stockton Police Department arrested five people, including a juvenile, on weapons and gang-related charges. There was no indication that the arrests were connected to the killings at the banquet hall, the sheriff said.
Mayor Christina Fugazi told reporters that the 8-year-old victim attended a local school and had a parent who worked for the Stockton Unified School District. The mayor said counsellors would be available this week at city schools.
She expressed anguish over the loss of victims so young.
"They should be writing their Christmas lists right now. Their parents should be out shopping for them for Christmas. And to think that their lives are over. I can't even begin to imagine what these families are going through. Breaks my heart," Fugazi said on Sunday.
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