New details emerge in Stockton shooting about victims, suspects and weapons

Two days after a mass shooting took the lives of three children and one young adult and left 11 others with bullet wounds, new details have emerged about the attack.

Authorities say the gunfire — which took place at a children’s birthday party at a banquet hall in north Stockton — was a “targeted incident.”

“We’re confident that this was not a random act,” San Joaquin County Sheriff Patrick Withrow said Sunday afternoon at a news conference. “They walked into this area and were probably looking for somebody in particular.”

The banquet hall is located on Lucile Avenue, an unincorporated pocket of Stockton that lies within the county’s jurisdiction off Thornton Avenue. As many as 150 guests had gathered in the newly opened rental space for a family celebration when the shooting began shortly before 6 p.m. Saturday.

Calls poured into 911 centers, and deputies were dispatched to the scene. They discovered a bloodbath that they believe began inside the venue and spilled onto the street outside.

Four people were killed — including three children ages 8, 9 and 14. A 21-year-old was also among the dead. At least 11 others were wounded so badly they were rushed to area hospitals, with some being transported to trauma centers outside the county.

The youngest of those who were shot to death was a Stockton Unified student, school district officials said.

“We are deeply saddened to learn that one of the victims of last night’s tragic mass shooting was a Stockton Unified School District student,” SUSD Superintendent Michelle Rodriguez said in a statement late Sunday. “We hold this student’s family in our hearts, and we grieve alongside them and our entire community.”

The 8-year-old’s identity, as well as those of the other victims, have not been released by the San Joaquin County Medical Examiner’s Office.

County and law enforcement officials have made repeated calls for help from the public for their investigation. Authorities have urged anyone with potential information, especially those with video or eyewitness accounts, to call the non-emergency line of the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office at (209) 468-4400 or Stockton Crime Stoppers at (209) 946-0600.

On Sunday, Mayor Christina Fugazi announced that Crime Stoppers was offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those involved in the fatal shooting. Fugazi said she was matching that with another $10,000, and Stockton Councilwoman Mariela Ponce was offering a $5,000 contribution, for a total reward of $25,000.

Sheriff’s officials believe multiple shooters were involved, although they have not determined a motive in the attack.

Withrow said he could not confirm reports that the shooting was gang-related.

“Why they did that, what they’re part of, who they are, we don’t know,” he said.

Investigators did discover weapons at the facility, on its rooftop, Withrow confirmed. But he said it was not immediately clear whether those weapons were related to Saturday night’s shooting. He did not elaborate on what type or how many weapons had been found and said ballistics tests were not yet complete so it was too early to say whether they were used in the deadly attack.

While the shooting occurred in what is technically the county’s jurisdiction, overall crime — particularly homicides — have dropped in Stockton. In July, Stocktonia reported on the dramatic reduction in this year’s homicide rate. In the first half of the year, the number of people dying at the hands of another had fallen 34% — from 29 in the first six months of 2024 to 19 during the same period in 2025, according to Stockton police reports.

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