A boy’s birthday party — usually a joyous event — turned into the site of a mass shooting Saturday night that left three children and one other person dead and 11 injured, with the suspected shooter still at large.
The tragedy in Stockton, California, adds to a growing list of American communities whose everyday spaces – schools, shopping centers, bars and office buildings – have experienced gun violence.
Children and adults were among those shot, according to Heather Brent, spokeswoman for the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office. Officials did not immediately release the conditions of those taken to area hospitals.
“Early indications suggest this may have been a targeted incident,” Brent told a news conference. “This is a very active and ongoing investigation, and information is still limited,” she said.
Those who were killed were 8, 9, 14 and 21 years old, Brent said on Sunday. The authorities have not released the names of the victims.
Sheriff Patrick Withrow made a request to the community Sunday to continue to provide his office with information about the shooting, no matter how small.
“I am confident in our team and with the work we have done so far that we will find these animals that did this and bring them justice, but we still need the public’s help.” Withrow said.
The shooting happened shortly before 6 pm in the upper part of the city, according to the sheriff’s office. The banquet hall, which shares a parking lot with several businesses, including Dairy Queen, was hosting a family celebration that investigators said was a birthday party for a small boy with 100 to 150 people in attendance, Brent said. Stockton is about 40 miles south of Sacramento.
Brent said the suspect who shot him fled and remains at large. Officials are urging the public to help with information as detectives work to determine a possible motive. “Investigators are exploring all possibilities,” Brent said.
“We are confident that this was not a random act,” Withrow said Sunday. “We’re not going to say whether it’s gang-related or not, until we have all the facts in front of us.”
Withrow said he drove more than eight hours and, he had, “dropped off my grandparents to come hunt these animals that were taken by somebody else’s babies.”
“My heart goes out to the families of those killed, the injured, and the survivors,” said former Rep. Gabby Giffords, herself a survivor of gun violence and founder of the gun violence prevention organization GIFFORDS.
“While we wait for more information about the shooting, what is painfully obvious is that we need our federal leaders to act to stop gun violence.”
First responders close off a parking lot near the scene of a mass shooting Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025, in Stockton, Calif. – Ethan Swope/AP
There have been at least 380 mass shootings in the United States so far this year — defined as when at least four people are shot, not including the shooter — according to the Gun Violence Archive.
In January, a shooting at Martin’s Super Market in Elkhart, Indiana, left two people dead and two police officers wounded. In August, a man walked into the lobby of a Park Avenue skyscraper in New York City, killed a police officer, then opened fire on other innocent bystanders. The following month in Colorado, a shooting at Evergreen High School left two students critically injured after a fellow student allegedly opened fire during their third week of classes.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has been briefed on the shooting, according to his office.
“Our hearts go out to their families and the entire Stockton community,” Newsom said in a post on X Sunday.
Stockton Mayor Christina Fugazi said in a statement that the governor “offered the full support of the state of California” to assist the community.
“Tonight our city is facing a heartbreaking and painful situation,” Fugazi wrote. “Please keep the victims, their loved ones, and our first responders in your prayers.”
This story has been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Michelle Watson and Chris Boyette contributed to this report.
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