A cup bearing a “Nalayah’s 2nd Birthday” label rested in the parking lot at 1937 Lucile Ave. in Stockton, California, on Monday morning, frozen in time and filled with half-eaten food.

The site had hosted a child’s birthday party that became the scene of a mass shooting that killed four people — three of them children — and wounded 11 others. The shooting occurred just before 6 p.m. Saturday in an unincorporated area of Stockton.

Fragments of joy disrupted by violence were all that remained outside the banquet hall Monday as authorities continued searching for suspects and the city continued searching for answers as the FBI moved to offer a $50,000 reward for information into the shooting.

Patrice Williams, a resident of Galt, said in an interview Monday outside San Joaquin Superior Court that she was Nalayah’s mother and 15 people were shot in the mass shooting.

“That was my family,” Williams said.

Williams said she arrived Monday at the courthouse for her father, who had an appointment for resentencing before it was rescheduled. She spoke softly, had few words and appeared to have been crying.

She confirmed that at least one family member had died in the shooting and others were injured but declined to provide names.

“I just really ask for comfort,” Williams said.

On Monday morning, comfort came in the form of strangers who sporadically arrived at the scene of the shooting — in a parking lot out the Monkey Space meeting hall at The Outpost shopping center just off Thornton Avenue. They left flowers and dropped their heads in prayer at a small vigil of candles formed a few feet away from a building riddled with dozens of bullet holes.

Behind the building, blood could be seen on the ground next to soda cans and small balloons. A small inflatable pink unicorn laid covered in streaks of blood.

Among the people offering condolences was Truong Nguyentan, who owns a tax services business near the Dairy Queen in the Thornton Plaza shopping center next door and has lived in the city for 13 years.

“Right now, in Stockton, (there’s) too much crime,” Nguyentan, 65, said.

Stockton, a city of 300,000 that has long struggled with violent crime, has worked in recent years to decrease its homicides. In 2024, Stockton had 54 homicides, slightly higher than the state average, according to statistics reviewed by the online news site Stocktonia.

Brandon Hernandez, who lives directly across the street from where the shooting took place, said he was working on the garage door of his home when the shooting began.

Hernandez said at first he thought the gunshots were fireworks coming from the birthday party. He had seen balloons and children celebrating earlier in the day.

But, within seconds, he saw people running and screaming.

He said he ran inside, alerted his girlfriend, and the two hid in a backyard shed. The shooting lasted about “seven to eight minutes,” with bullets fired from multiple directions, he said.

The barrage of bullets was evident across from Hernandez’s home on Monday. About 10 bullet holes could be seen, too, across the front of his home. One bullet went through his house and broke a glass window leading to his backyard.

“I haven’t slept here since,” Hernandez, 26, said in Spanish. “I don’t feel safe knowing what happened.”

Details on the shooting remain minimal, with authorities not identifying a motive or suspect, but investigators believe the attack was not random. Stockton Mayor Christina Fugazi and San Joaquin County Sheriff Patrick Withrow have cautioned against drawing conclusions before all evidence has been reviewed.

Asked if she had any idea why the shooting had occurred, Williams said she did not. Told of rumors that have circulated on social media that the shooting was gang-related, Williams told The Bee, “I don’t really know anything at all.”

Near the end of her interview with another news agency, Williams apologized for reasons that weren’t clear.

“All I can say is that I’m sorry to all the mothers and children out there,” Williams said. “If I could do anything to prevent this, I would.”

_____

©2025 The Sacramento Bee. Visit sacbee.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.