THE SCENE IS STREWN with evidence of violence and frantic movement. It is also filled with party streamers, hundreds of multicolored balloons and paper plates with slices of chocolate cake left unfinished.
The mass shooting shocked Stockton on Saturday not just for its toll of violence but for its setting: a children’s birthday party and family gathering at a banquet hall.
New video shows what the scene looked like in the tragic aftermath of the shooting that left four dead, including three children.
The cellphone video was shared with Stocktonia by a relative of the party’s host, with permission to publish it.
While the video is graphic, the newsroom chose to publish it for a better understanding of the effects of violence in the community.
“Although the content of the video is upsetting,” said Stocktonia Executive Editor Scott Linesburgh, “we believe it is important to give the public all the information we have as we cover this tragic event.”
As of Monday night, authorities still had no one in custody, but they believed the shooting was a targeted attack that happened to cut through the midst of an event full of children.
One of the first, most notable details is the balloons.
Patrice Williams, the birthday girl’s mother, said her 2-year-old daughter was not injured in the gunfire — which killed four and injured at least 11. It did wound her sister, a cousin and three friends. She told reporters that two nieces of her baby’s father were among the dead.
The video, filmed after the attack, does not depict victims and does not show the faces of others on site. It does show blood, including trails where the wounded may have been moved.
The floor is littered with clothing and other personal items victims may have left at the scene, with many individual shoes scattered about. Folding chairs are tossed across the room. Tables and sofas appear upturned against the violence.
This story originally appeared in Stocktonia.
