First child victim of Stockton birthday party mass shooting is named by his distraught mother: ‘My baby was loved’
A 14-year-old “gentle soul” who loved playing sports was among the four victims of a weekend mass shooting in Stockton, California, that killed four and injured 11 people, according to family members.
Police have not officially named any of the victims in the shooting, but Amari Peterson’s mother Kimberly Pangnanouvong told the Stockton Record the teen was among those killed.
“My baby was innocent,” she said. “We were just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Who would have known my baby wasn’t gonna come home with me?”
“He was good in everything he did,” Pangnanouvong added. “He played basketball, football. I’m just lost for words. Just pray for me, my family, his friends, everybody that came across him. My baby was loved.”
The 14-year-old’s father Patrick Peterson said Amari was a “gentle soul” and was shot above the heart.
“Everybody [was] running off and my son is just sitting there crawling, just trying to get up,” Peterson told WCNC. “I’m trying to give him CPR and he just has blood coming out of his face. It’s just something that a father should never have to go through.”
“He was making plans and looking into colleges of choice,” a GoFundMe page for Amari’s family reads. “He was NOT involved in any gang activity. The only mistake this sweet boy made was being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was simply being a kid at a kids’ party.”
The victims of the suspected gang-related shooting included children aged 8, 9, and 14, as well as a 21-year-old, according to the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office.
The 8-year-old was an elementary school student in the Stockton Unified School District, according to officials.
Family members identified the 21-year-old as Susano Archuleta, telling the Los Angeles Times he was shot in the neck.
“As more details emerge about this horrific shooting, my heart is with the families of the victims and the entire Stockton community,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom wrote on X on Monday. “No child should ever have their life taken from them.”
Flags at the State Capitol were ordered to fly at half-staff.
Police have not made any arrests or named any suspects in the November 29 shooting, which took place at a banquet hall on Lucile Avenue hosting a two-year-old’s birthday party.
A public information officer at the sheriff’s office told The Independent the shooting was a “targeted” incident and that there was no further public information about a motive.
Patrice Williams’s daughter was the one being celebrated at the party where the shooting took place.
She told The Associated Press she hoped to see a suspect arrested for the crime.
“They deserve to be in jail. They deserve to go to hell,” Williams said. “I’m sorry, but I just … it’s not respectable. It’s a kids’ party.”
In 2024, Stockton had a violent crime rate more than double the broader state of California’s, according to the AP.
