At least four people, including three children, have been killed and 11 others wounded in a Stockton mass shooting at a family gathering in northern California, in one of the deadliest attacks on children in the United States this year.
Authorities say the youngest victims were in primary school and that the gunman escaped before officers arrived.
According to the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office, the victims were aged eight, nine, 14 and 21, and were among 15 people shot at a restaurant and banquet venue in Stockton just before 18:00 local time on Saturday (01:00 SAST on Sunday).
Investigators say early indications suggest the attack was “targeted”, but they have not yet publicly identified a suspect or confirmed the motive.
What happened in the Stockton mass shooting
Witnesses told local media that a large family event was under way at the venue, described by city officials as a children’s birthday party, when multiple shots erupted and people began running for cover.
Deputies and paramedics arrived to find children and adults with gunshot wounds both inside and outside the building.
Sheriff’s spokesperson Heather Brent called the shooting “unfathomable”, saying detectives were reviewing CCTV and appealing for “information, video footage, or [anyone] who may have witnessed any part of the incident” to come forward.
She said the investigation was in its early stages and that detectives were exploring gang involvement among other possibilities.
Deputy Mayor Jason Lee wrote on social media that “a birthday party should never be a place where families fear for their lives”, while Stockton Mayor Christina Fugazi said it was “unacceptable” that parents were in hospital “praying that their loved one survives” after what should have been a celebration.
Community leaders have announced a vigil in the city to remember the young victims and call for answers.
How the Stockton mass shooting fits into US trends in 2025
Researchers track mass shootings differently, but one widely cited definition – used by the non-profit Gun Violence Archive (GVA) – counts incidents in which four or more people, excluding the shooter, are shot in the same place at roughly the same time.
By late November 2025, GVA’s national database listed 380 mass shootings in the United States this year, along with more than 13,000 gun deaths and over 24,000 non-fatal gun injuries from all types of incidents.
That means the Stockton mass shooting is one of hundreds of attacks meeting the four-victim threshold in 2025 alone.
Across the first 11 months of the year, 380 incidents works out to just over 1.1 mass shootings per day – roughly eight such attacks in an average week.
Put another way, in a country of around 347 million people, there has been about one recorded mass shooting this year for every 900,000 residents.
These incidents are only a slice of the wider gun-violence picture. Analysis of GVA data shows that mass shootings account for a minority of US gun deaths, which also include homicides, suicides and accidental shootings.
In 2023, for example, nearly 47,000 people died from gun-related injuries, the highest level in decades, with suicides making up the largest share.
What that risk looks like in real life
For any individual American, the chance of being killed in a mass shooting remains relatively low compared with other causes of death such as car crashes, heart disease or non-mass gun crimes.
However, more than 1,600 people have been wounded and over 360 killed in mass shootings recorded so far in 2025, meaning thousands of families now live with the aftermath of these incidents.
The concentration of attacks in everyday spaces – homes, birthday parties, bars, parks and shopping areas – magnifies the sense of vulnerability.
Stockton’s shooting took place at a family gathering for children; other 2025 incidents have happened at festivals, sports events and neighbourhood celebrations, reinforcing a perception that routine public life in the US can be punctured without warning by gunfire.
For residents of cities like Stockton, the statistics translate into practical questions about safety at school events, community functions and even private family parties.
Police and local officials have promised a thorough investigation into the latest tragedy, but for families mourning children as young as eight and nine, the debate over national gun policy and mass-shooting numbers is suddenly, and brutally, personal.
