A California family was about to cut the cake when gunfire broke out at a child’s birthday party.

STOCKTON, Calif. — Family members were preparing to cut the cake at a child’s birthday party when gunfire erupted in a banquet hall filled with relatives and friends over the weekend in California.

“I actually thought it was my balloons popping. It was gunshots,” said Patrice Williams, the birthday girl’s mother.

Her 2-year-old daughter was not injured. But Williams told The Associated Press on Monday that her sister, a cousin and three of her friends were shot dead in a burst of gunfire Saturday night in Stockton.

Three children aged 8, 9 and 14 and a 21-year-old man were killed in the room where at least 100 people were gathered, San Joaquin County Sheriff Patrick Withrow said. Detectives believe the gunfire continued outside and there may have been multiple shooters.

Eleven people were injured and at least one is in critical condition, Withrow said. No one is in custody.

Williams said partygoers who had gathered around the cake fell to the ground as the shots rang out.

“It was just unexpected. I don’t know what happened, and I’m just so shocked and lost,” Williams said.

She expressed remorse for the mothers who lost their children.

Williams said she did not see the shooter and had no idea who would commit violence during what was supposed to be a happy event.

“They deserve to be in prison. They deserve to go to hell,” Williams said. “I’m sorry, but it’s just… it’s not respectable. It’s a children’s party.”

Williams, surrounded by family members, broke down in tears as she said parents planning birthday parties for their children should consider holding them indoors because of the risk of violence.

The sheriff urged anyone with information to contact his office with tips, cell phone videos or eyewitness accounts.

“This is the time for our community to show that we will not accept this type of behavior, where people just come in and kill children,” Withrow said Sunday evening. “And so if you know anything about this, you need to come forward and tell us what you know. Otherwise, you just become complacent and think this is acceptable behavior.”

Sheriff’s spokeswoman Heather Brent said investigators believe it was a “targeted incident.” Officials have not said why authorities believe it was intentional or who might have been targeted. She said investigators would welcome any information, “even rumors.”

Stockton resident Carolyn Tahod, who did not know the victims, showed up Monday to place bouquets of flowers at a makeshift memorial with lit candles in honor of those who died.

“I’m just an average person who has a big heart and I have grandchildren,” she said. “I would be devastated if this happened to our family.”

Roscoe Brown, who said the party was in honor of his brother’s granddaughter, works for the city of Stockton’s office of violence prevention. Brown was in Arizona when he learned of the shooting and went straight to the scene. He said a niece and nephew were shot and he knew of several other victims. He had no information about their conditions.

“Who would come and do that to some kids, you know? Brown told AP after a Sunday afternoon vigil organized by religious leaders. “You can’t have a party. This is insane. A children’s party, at that.”

A 14-year-old boy named Amari Peterson, who played football and basketball and planned to attend college, was killed in the shooting, according to a GoFundMe account run by his aunt, Aresha Mosley.

“The only mistake this nice boy made was being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” the story says. “He was just a kid at a kids’ party.”

Emmanuel Lopez told the Los Angeles Times that his brother, Susano Archuleta, 21, was shot in the neck and died instantly. Lopez said her 9-year-old daughter was shot in the head but survived. He did not provide details about what led to the shooting.

Rhodesia Ransom, a Democratic congresswoman representing Stockton, said “we cannot normalize this tragedy.”

“We cannot freeze this moment or let it pass without working hard to prevent this from happening again,” she said in a statement.

Stockton is a city of 320,000 located about 80 miles east of San Francisco. Stockton saw 3,680 violent crimes in 2024, more than double the national rate, according to city and state data. Violent crimes include homicide, rape, assault and theft. The San Joaquin Valley, where Stockton is located, had the highest violent crime rate in the state in 2023, according to data from the Public Policy Institute of California.

Hours after the shooting, Stockton police arrested five people, including a juvenile, on weapons and gang-related charges. There is no indication the arrests are connected to the killings at the banquet hall, the sheriff said.

It was the 17th mass killing of the year in the United States, with at least four victims, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.

Mayor Christina Fugazi told reporters the 8-year-old victim attended a local school and her parents worked for the Stockton Unified School District. The mayor said counselors would be available in city schools this week.

She expressed her anguish at the loss of victims so young.

“They should be writing their Christmas lists right now. Their parents should be shopping for them for Christmas. And thinking their life is over. I can’t even begin to imagine what these families are going through. It breaks my heart,” Fugazi said Sunday.

___

Weber reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writer Ed White in Detroit contributed.