After a mass shooting rocked Stockton, new details began to emerge about the scene of the attack, as the total number of victims climbed.
What we know Tuesday
San Joaquin County sheriff’s spokesperson Heather Brent said Tuesday that the total victim count in the case, which had previously been pegged at 15, had increased to 17. Two other victims had been treated for minor injuries at a hospital, Brent said.
Among the victims were four dead — two 8-year-olds, one 14 and one who was 21. As of Tuesday, at least one person wounded remained in critical condition.
The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s office said it was seeking multiple shooters in what investigators believed was a targeted attack Saturday night, but that no arrests had been made.
The lives lost
Amari Peterson was a standout 14-year-old basketball player from Modesto, his coach told Stocktonia. A budding athletic career was cut short when Amari died in the mass shooting Saturday night.
He had hoped to stay home and practice hoops, but agreed to go with his family to a birthday party in Stockton, his father said.
Also identified Tuesday was Maya Lupian, a third-grader at Aspire APEX Academy in Stockton. Authorities originally listed one victim as 9 years old, but relatives confirmed Maya was 8, calling her “the light in everyone’s life.”
Another 8-year-old, also killed in the shooting, was a Stockton Unified student. The fourth victim was Susano Archuleta, a young brother full of life.
Children’s party turns to chaos
The family of the hosts of the party spoke out Monday about their outrage over the violence that erupted at the children’s event at a banquet hall.
Patrice Williams, the 2-year-old birthday girl’s mother, said her daughter was not injured in the gunfire, but that other relatives were. She and other relatives told Stocktonia about how gunfire began just as they had moved to cut the birthday cake.
“All we heard was gunshots. Somebody just came in the building and start shooting, and we all fell to the ground,” said Teresa Spivey, the birthday girl’s great-grandmother. “Babies just falling. And everybody was running.”
Video reveals the Stockton shooting scene
In new video obtained by Stocktonia with permission to publish it, a view inside the crime scene reveals the chaotic aftermath of the shooting: folding chairs collapsed, deflated balloons, cans of soda and plastic sippy cups. On the floor, children’s shoes sit abandoned. The floor and walls are stained with blood.
While the crime scene video is graphic, the newsroom chose to publish it for a better understanding of the effects of violence in the community. Viewer caution is advised.
Victims’ condition
While authorities have not released the names of any victims, they have identified those killed as being ages 8, 9, 14 and 21. Heather Brent, a spokesperson for the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office, said among all victims, ages ranged from 8 to 30.
Brent said some of the wounded had been released from hospitals as of Monday. At least one was still in critical — but stable — condition, she said.
The investigation
The FBI announced that it would offer a $50,000 reward in exchange for information leading to an arrest and conviction. The reward comes in addition to $25,000 offered from the Stockton Crime Stoppers program.
Because the shooting occurred on a pocket of county land inside North Stockton, the county Sheriff’s Office is the lead investigating agency.
No suspect details have been disclosed, and investigators said they have not yet determined what weapons were used in the attack.
Authorities ask anyone with possible information 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.
Stocktonia reporters Chris Woodyard and Shaylee Navarro contributed.
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