Stockton family recalls ‘babies falling to the ground’ during tragic birthday party shooting

STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA: A birthday celebration in Stockton turned into a nightmare when gunfire erupted just as a family was about to cut the cake at a 2-year-old’s party.

What began as a joyful gathering ended with multiple deaths, serious injuries, and horror for those present.

Surviving relatives described a chaotic and traumatic scene with children falling, blood on the floor, and frantic efforts to shelter loved ones.

Patrice Williams' account of shooting

Williams, the mother of the birthday girl, said, "I just wanted all my family to be together."

Williams said they were getting ready to begin cutting her daughter's birthday cake when the gunfire began. "Everybody was getting ready to gather round, All we heard was gunshots, and everybody just dove to the ground. It was just unexpected."

Expressing her grief for the other families at the party, she said, "I’m speechless and shocked, I’m sorry to all the mothers out there that lost their kids at my birthday party.”

 She said, "She initially thought the sound of gunshots was balloons popping."

Recalling the chaos and pain of the attack, Williams said, "My sister got shot. My cousin got shot. My son's friend got shot. Three of my friends got shot."

Williams, who works closely with children every day at a youth center, said, "I see youth all day, I see kids all day, and I am a mother of three. To see children on the floor, bleeding, and not be able to help them was heartbreaking."

Teresa Spivey recounts the chaos

According to Teresa Spivey, the 64-year-old great-grandmother of the birthday girl, more than 100 people had gathered in a banquet hall in North Stockton for the celebration. 

The mood was festive and peaceful shortly before 6 pm, when family and friends gathered to cut the birthday cake.

Spivey said, "That’s when the shots started rang out." When the gunfire erupted, she instinctively pushed over a table to shield some of the children and then guided them toward a nearby room to seek safety.

“All we heard was gunshots. Somebody just came in the building and start shooting, and we all fell to the ground,” she recalled.

She described the terror of seeing children drop and people running in panic. She added, “Babies just falling. And everybody was running. It was crazy.”

Spivey said that one child near her was struck in the back by a bullet, "All I could see were babies falling to the ground, and I couldn’t help them"

Local authorities identified that four people were killed and at least 11 were wounded in the shooting.

According to San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Heather Brent, the ages of shooting victims overall ranged from 8 to 30

Some of those injured have since been released from hospitals; at least one remains in critical but stable condition.

The day after the attack, Spivey and other family members were allowed to re-enter the venue on Lucile Avenue once law enforcement cleared it.