A man fatally shot in Lodi during the holidays was among the guests at a child’s birthday party that erupted in deadly gunfire a month earlier in Stockton, sources have confirmed to Stocktonia.
Emmanuel J. Lopez, 33, of Lodi was shot to death Dec. 28 at an apartment complex in southwest Lodi, police said.
Officers responded to a report of gunshots in the 800 block of west Harney Lane around 10:30 p.m. and found a man, later identified as Lopez, suffering from gunshot wounds, Lodi police said.
First-responders tried to save him, but Lopez died of his injuries.
Law enforcement has said there is no indication the mass shooting in November is connected to Lopez’s death and officials would not comment on his presence at the birthday party.
While Lodi police described Lopez’s death as an “isolated incident,” they have said the fatal shooting was “possibly gang-related.”
Gang connections have also been called into question in the Nov. 29 mass shooting in Stockton, which killed four people at a 2-year-old’s birthday party — three of them children.
The fourth victim, 21-year-old Susano Archuleta, was at the party with Lopez, sources with direct knowledge of the event told Stocktonia. The sources requested anonymity because of the violent nature of the crime.
News reports also indicate Lopez was a guest at the November party at an event center in north Stockton.
Lopez’s 9-year-old daughter was shot in the head when assailants opened fire at the party, but she survived, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Lopez told the Times that he held Archuleta, who was shot in the neck, as he lay dying.
“My brother died in my arms,” he told the news outlet. The Times also published a photograph of Lopez inside the event space the day after the shooting, which officials with the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office described as a targeted attack.
The men were not related but described as good friends by some who knew Archuleta.
Besides Archuleta, three others were killed in the November shooting — two 9-year-old cousins and a 14-year-old basketball star from Modesto. At least 13 other people were injured.
The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office, which is leading the investigation into the attack, has not announced any arrests connected to the mass shooting.
While some Stockton officials have openly suggested the fateful event involved gang activity, the Sheriff’s Office has refused to assign any motive to the shooting.
“I’ve told you all along that we cannot determine whether this is gang-related or not,” Sheriff Patrick Withrow told reporters in December. “Obviously, we know that there were known gang members (there) … but we do not know whether that was the reason or the motive of this shooting, so we’re going to take our time.”
Investigators have revealed little about the case, other than to say that at least 50 shots were fired from five guns. Authorities would not say whether some of the bullet casings found at the scene were return gunfire from partygoers shooting back at the attackers.
But prosecutors have said the birthday girl’s father — Luciano Guerrero — has some culpability in the deadly shooting. Guerrero, a Stockton-based rapper, was arrested Dec. 1 by parole officers on suspicion of being in “contact” with gang members at his daughter’s party.
According to parole documents, a joint investigation by the Sheriff’s Office, the Stockton Police Department and the FBI determined that multiple “gang sets” were present at the time of the attack.
Stockton — and other parts of San Joaquin County — have been plagued with gang violence for years. The region has a history of gang influence that investigative agencies, social services and government programs have yet to resolve.
And while no official connections have been drawn between the mass shooting in Stockton and Lopez’s slaying in Lodi a month later, many leaders have expressed concern about the cyclical nature of violence.
“When vengeance perpetuates vengeance, we start breeding hatred and anger,” Genevieve Valentine, director of San Joaquin County’s Health Care Services Agency, told Stocktonia after the November shooting.
Sheriff’s officials would not speculate whether their case is connected to the Lodi slaying.
“At this time, there is nothing to indicate that the two shootings are related. It is an open investigation,” sheriff’s spokesperson Heather Brent said Wednesday.
The Sheriff’s Office also would not comment on whether Lopez attended the November gathering that ended in gun violence.
“No victims’ names of those present have been, nor will be, released,” Brent said.
Lodi police are continuing to investigate Lopez’s death, the only homicide reported in the city in 2025. Authorities have not released any potential motive in the fatal shooting.
“This remains an active and ongoing investigation, with our detectives diligently pursuing all available leads and reviewing any new information that comes to light,” Lodi police told Stocktonia in a statement Wednesday afternoon. “Due to the ongoing nature of this investigation, we are unable to release any additional details at this time.”
Anyone with information on Lopez’s death is being encouraged to contact Patrick Backman, a detective with the Special Investigations Unit, at pbackman@lodi.gov or call the Lodi Police Department at (209) 333-6727. Anonymous tips can also be submitted to Lodi Area Crime Stoppers at (209) 369-CRIME and online at 369crime.com.
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