The celebration at Monkey Space in Stockton was supposed to be innocent and loud in all the right ways — kids running between tables, parents sharing stories, a community briefly forgetting how dangerous the city can be. Instead, bullets tore through the banquet hall just before 6 p.m., killing four people aged 8, 14, 22 and 30, and wounding ten others, including more children. Neighbors said shots seemed to come from multiple directions, adding to the terror and confusion as families scrambled for cover and first responders flooded the parking lot.
Officials insist the attack appears targeted, not random, but that offers little comfort while the gunman remains at large. Stockton’s leaders, many of whom carry their own scars from violence, pleaded with residents to come forward, to refuse to accept this as normal. In a city already branded one of California’s most dangerous, a child’s birthday party has become another crime scene — and a test of whether a grieving community can still believe in justice.