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Stockton shooting: Patrice Williams, mom who was hosting party, recalls horror, ‘Everybody just dove to the ground’
Patrice Williams, who was hosting a party for her two-year-old daughter when gunfire erupted, said she is ‘just so shocked and lost’ after the tragedy.
A Stockton mother who was hosting a birthday party when a deadly shooting took place has recounted the horrifying incident. Patrice Williams was hosting the party for her daughter, 2, on Saturday when gunfire erupted.
It was meant to be a joyful celebration. However, happiness turned into panic just before 6 pm when someone entered the building along the 1900 block of Lucile Avenue and began shooting.
The shooting killed three children and a 21-year-old. As many as 11 others were injured.
‘Everybody just dove to the ground’
"I just wanted all my family to come together," Williams told the Associated Press.
Williams recalled how they were preparing to cut her daughter’s birthday cake when shots rang out. She said that initially, she thought the sound of gunshots was balloons popping.
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"Everybody was getting ready to gather round," Williams said. "All we heard was gunshots, and everybody just dove to the ground. It was just unexpected."
Williams revealed that her daughter's father lost two nieces in the shooting.
"My sister actually got shot. My cousin got shot. My son's friend got shot. Three of my friends got shot," Williams said.
Williams’ daughter, however, remained unharmed.
According to the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office, the ages of those who were killed were 8, 9, 14 and 21 years old. The 14-year-old victim was identified by his family as Amari Peterson.
The 11 people who were wounded range in age from 8 to around 30 years old.
"I just want to say I'm sorry to all the mothers out there that lost their kids at my birthday party," Williams said. "I'm just so shocked and lost."
Williams works closely with children in her job at a youth center. "I see youth all day, I see kids all day, I'm a mother of three. So for me to see kids on the floor and just bleeding and I can't help them... It was hurting me," Williams said.
"Try not to be in public all the time with your kids, cause anything can happen and a bullet doesn't have a name," she added.
‘Someone came in and took, robbed, destroyed families’
Authorities in California have appealed to the public for tips for a suspect in the shooting. Heather Brent, a spokesperson for the San Joaquin County sheriff's office, reportedly said that investigators believe it was a “targeted incident” at a banquet hall where 100 people or more had gathered for the party.
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“They was celebrating life. As they celebrated life, someone came in and took, robbed, destroyed families,” Berniece Bass, the great-aunt of the birthday girl, told ABC10’s Roxanne Elias.
Williams’ grandmother and Bass' sister, Teresa Spivey, said she threw the cake table down when she heard gunshots, to use it as a shield.
“All I seen was kids dropping. Somebody fell on the side of me. They was hit,” Spivey said, adding that she took her granddaughter and rushed children into a back room or under a table as she saw people bleeding.
The family said they do not know who opened fire and what their motive could have been. “I believe they just deserve to rot in jail,” Williams said.
Calling for justice, Bass said, “If you have any idea who pulled up and robbed us, stole from us, and took from us, lives. Tell it.”
Meanwhile, Brent said she could not release details about a suspect or information about a motive at this time as it might hinder the investigation. “If you have surveillance footage, if you're a local business here, if you're in the area, live in the area, or maybe you've heard rumours — please contact the sheriff's office,” she added.
