Two elementary school-age children. A teen basketball star who was a coach’s dream. A young adult celebrating with friends.
In the mass shooting that rocked Stockton on Nov. 29, four people died. In the days afterward, their identities began to emerge with details of how they lived.
The shooting tore through a children’s party at an event space in north Stockton. Investigators believe it was a targeted attack, with gunfire sprayed both outside and inside the venue. As of Tuesday, a search for multiple shooters was still underway, and the total number of victims had risen to 17, with four people killed, San Joaquin County sheriff’s spokesperson Heather Brent said.
This is what we know about the lives lost. All of them were young — from age 8 to age 21.
These reports will be updated.
Maya Lupian and Journey Rose Reotutar Guerrero, 8-year-old cousins
Maya Lupian was a third-grader at Aspire APEX Academy in Stockton, which confirmed her death in consultation with her family on Tuesday night.
“Maya was the light in everyone’s life, the sweetest soul,” her sister, Yesenia Lupian, posted online.
Though authorities initially said the two youngest victims were 8 and 9, a family fundraiser online confirmed Maya was 8 years old.
Maya was at the party with her cousin Journey Rose Reotutar Guerrero, another 8-year-old.
The two were extremely close, Journey Rose’s aunt Marie Antoinette Aguon said Wednesday. She thinks the giggly pair had gone to check out toys in the front of the banquet hall where the party was being held when the shooting began. Both were felled by bullets in the attack.
The Stockton Unified School District had previously confirmed one of its students was a victim. Journey Rose attended Commodore Stockton Skills School in Stockton. Her mother, Jackie Reotutar, is an SUSD teacher, the district said in a statement.
The girl’s cousin Joseph Guerrero said Journey Rose “would just bring smiles to your face … bring light to your day.”
Amari Peterson, age 14
Amari Peterson, a young basketball player from Modesto who joined his family for the birthday party, was among those killed, according to a Stockton city official and others who knew him.
Mike Estrada, director of the Central Valley Hornets youth basketball league, told Stocktonia on Tuesday that Peterson embraced basketball, football and track with equal gusto.
Estrada said Amari was the kind of player a coach dreams of seeing. “He had so much to offer the world,” Estrada said.
His father, Patrick Peterson, told FOX40 that Amari had hoped to stay home to shoot baskets on Saturday, but agreed to go with his family to the party.
The Central Saints football team honored Amari online, calling him “bright, talented and unforgettable.”
Susano Archuleta, age 21
Relatives said 21-year-old Susano Archuleta was shot and killed at the scene of the party while trying to save those around him.
Patricia Flores, Archuleta’s aunt, told CBS News in Sacramento that he had been at the event simply to support friends.
When the gunfire erupted, Archuleta rushed to move children who were near him, along with his girlfriend, into a closet in order to protect them, according to reports from KCRA.
While trying to save those around him, Archuleta lost his own life. His brother Emmanuel Lopez said the young man was shot in the neck and died in his arms, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Professional boxer Gabe Flores Jr., a Stockton native, told Stocktonia that Archuleta was his cousin. Ticket proceeds from Flores’ upcoming WBO International Lightweight title match were to be donated to families of the shooting victims, his father and manager, Gabe Flores Sr., said.
Want more? Sign up to get Stocktonia delivered to your inbox three days a week.