Authorities in California have appealed for urgent public assistance as the manhunt continues for suspects involved in a devastating shooting at a child\u2019s birthday party that left four people dead including three children and 11 others wounded.<\/p>\n
The attack erupted Saturday inside a crowded banquet hall in Stockton, where more than 100 people had gathered. San Joaquin County Sheriff Patrick Withrow confirmed that the victims included children aged 8, 9 and 14, along with a 21-year-old man. At least one of the wounded remains in critical condition.<\/p>\n
Detectives believe the violence continued outside the venue and that multiple shooters may have been involved. By Sunday evening, no arrests had been made.<\/p>\n
Withrow issued a forceful plea to the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a time for our community to show that we will not put up with this type of behavior, when people will just walk in and kill children,\u201d he said, urging residents to provide tips, video footage or eyewitness accounts.<\/p>\n
Sheriff\u2019s spokesperson Heather Brent described the attack as a \u201ctargeted incident,\u201d though authorities have not disclosed who may have been the intended target or why. She stressed that investigators welcome any information, \u201ceven rumors,\u201d as they work to identify the shooters.<\/p>\n
The celebration was for a 2-year-old girl who was not harmed. Her family members, including several of the wounded, were among those gathered to mark the occasion. Speaking at a vigil, family representative Roscoe Brown expressed disbelief that attackers would open fire at a children\u2019s event.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t shoot up a party. That\u2019s senseless. A kid\u2019s party, at that,\u201d he told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n
The youngest victim attended a local school, Stockton Mayor Christina Fugazi confirmed. She said crisis counselors will be available this week, adding that the tragedy is \u201cheartbreaking beyond words.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stockton, a city of 320,000 about 80 miles east of San Francisco, has long grappled with high homicide rates. By October this year, the city had recorded 34 killings.<\/p>\n
Hours after the shooting, police arrested five individuals including a juvenile on weapons and gang-related charges, but investigators say there is no evidence linking them to the banquet hall attack.<\/p>\n
Authorities continue to urge anyone with information to contact the San Joaquin County Sheriff\u2019s Office.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Authorities in California have appealed for urgent public assistance as the manhunt continues for suspects involved in a devastating shooting at a child\u2019s birthday party that left four people dead including three children and 11 others wounded. The attack erupted Saturday inside a crowded banquet hall in Stockton, where more than 100 people had gathered.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_1160854738579181570_1160854738579181570":"","facebook_3558452337540614_100649324928663":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[475,2360,2362,2363,1359,2361,2359,1087],"class_list":{"0":"post-14612","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-social","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-child-victims","10":"tag-community-safety","11":"tag-crime-justice","12":"tag-law-enforcement","13":"tag-mass-shooting","14":"tag-stockton","15":"tag-united-states"},"yoast_head":"\n