First child victim of Stockton birthday party mass shooting ID’d

STOCKTON— A 14-year-old boy was at the wrong place at the wrong time when he was gunned down at a child’s birthday party in a California shooting that left three others dead, including two children, according to his grieving mother.

Amari Peterson was attending a party at a banquet hall in Stockton on Nov. 29 when gunfire rang out in the evening, killing him, along with an 8- and a 9 -year-old, as well as a 21-year-old victim.

“My baby was innocent,” heartbroken mother Kim Peterson told the Stockton Record.

“We were just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Who would have known my baby wasn’t gonna come home with me?”

Peterson described her son as a loving and caring boy who loved sports, including basketball and 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 grieving mother added.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help Amari’s family pay for his funeral.

The 21-year-old victim was also identified as Susano Archuleta, who was there to celebrate the birthday of a friend’s daughter, his aunt told CBS Sacramento. 

“He is going to be missed. He will definitely be missed,” Patricia Flores told the outlet.  

The 8-year-old victim has only been identified as a student at a local school, with a parent who worked for the Stockton Unified School District.

Along with the four dead victims, 11 others were wounded in the Saturday shooting.

No suspects have been arrested as of Monday, according to police.

Stockton Mayor Christina Fugazi said the shooting was an act of “domestic terrorism,” blaming gang violence in the city of nearly 320,000 people, which is

Police had previously described the shooting as a “targeted attack,” but officials have yet to elaborate on the details.

Brent Terill, who lives near the site of the shooting, said the weekend’s violence was nothing new for a city regularly plagued with violent crime.

“I heard 20 to 30 rounds, boom boom boom boom boom, back-to-back. A full-on blast,” he said of the shooting.

“I witnessed a woman pull up on the side of the street and just run, yelling, ‘My baby! My baby! My baby!” he added.

Stockton had the second highest murder rate of any California city in 2024, only behind Oakland, according to the state’s records.

There were 51 homicides reported in Stockton last year, with a total murder rate of 15.7% per 100,000 residents.

There have been 34 homicides in Stockton so far this year, not including last night’s mass shooting, which occurred just outside the city limits.

Crime has run rampant in San Joaquin County as a whole, according to the Simmrin Law Group, whose 2024 analysis named the county the most dangerous in California with an average of 72 violent crimes per 1,000 residents – nearly double the statewide average.

Terill, who said he was born and raised in Stockton, blamed the rampant crime on Gov. Gavin Newsom, accusing the Democrat of being “soft on crime.”

“San Francisco turned into a giant sh–show. And now he’s the governor,” Terill said.

“What happens is a lot of these criminals, they commit a crime, they know they’re going to get locked up, cited, and go back out on the street. They know the system, they play the system, and they abuse the system,” he added.

Johnny Delgado, 50, is a restaurant worker who lives nearby and came to view the memorial set up for the victims, said it was clear that the violence of the big city has flooded Stockton.

“It’s getting ridiculous. I grew up here, and they didn’t do this,” Delgado said. “Now you’ve got people coming in from the Bay Area, and it’s gotten so bad.

STOCKTON— A 14-year-old boy was at the wrong place at the wrong time when he was gunned down at a child’s birthday party in a California shooting that left three others dead, including two children, according to his grieving mother.

Amari Peterson was attending a party at a banquet hall in Stockton on Nov. 29 when gunfire rang out in the evening, killing him, along with an 8- and a 9 -year-old, as well as a 21-year-old victim.

“My baby was innocent,” heartbroken mother Kim Peterson told the Stockton Record.

“We were just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Who would have known my baby wasn’t gonna come home with me?”

Peterson described her son as a loving and caring boy who loved sports, including basketball and 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 grieving mother added.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help Amari’s family pay for his funeral.

The 21-year-old victim was also identified as Susano Archuleta, who was there to celebrate the birthday of a friend’s daughter, his aunt told CBS Sacramento. 

“He is going to be missed. He will definitely be missed,” Patricia Flores told the outlet.  

The 8-year-old victim has only been identified as a student at a local school, with a parent who worked for the Stockton Unified School District.

Along with the four dead victims, 11 others were wounded in the Saturday shooting.

No suspects have been arrested as of Monday, according to police.

Stockton Mayor Christina Fugazi said the shooting was an act of “domestic terrorism,” blaming gang violence in the city of nearly 320,000 people, which is

Police had previously described the shooting as a “targeted attack,” but officials have yet to elaborate on the details.

Brent Terill, who lives near the site of the shooting, said the weekend’s violence was nothing new for a city regularly plagued with violent crime.

“I heard 20 to 30 rounds, boom boom boom boom boom, back-to-back. A full-on blast,” he said of the shooting.

“I witnessed a woman pull up on the side of the street and just run, yelling, ‘My baby! My baby! My baby!” he added.

Stockton had the second highest murder rate of any California city in 2024, only behind Oakland, according to the state’s records.

There were 51 homicides reported in Stockton last year, with a total murder rate of 15.7% per 100,000 residents.

There have been 34 homicides in Stockton so far this year, not including last night’s mass shooting, which occurred just outside the city limits.

Crime has run rampant in San Joaquin County as a whole, according to the Simmrin Law Group, whose 2024 analysis named the county the most dangerous in California with an average of 72 violent crimes per 1,000 residents – nearly double the statewide average.

Terill, who said he was born and raised in Stockton, blamed the rampant crime on Gov. Gavin Newsom, accusing the Democrat of being “soft on crime.”

“San Francisco turned into a giant sh–show. And now he’s the governor,” Terill said.

“What happens is a lot of these criminals, they commit a crime, they know they’re going to get locked up, cited, and go back out on the street. They know the system, they play the system, and they abuse the system,” he added.

Johnny Delgado, 50, is a restaurant worker who lives nearby and came to view the memorial set up for the victims, said it was clear that the violence of the big city has flooded Stockton.

“It’s getting ridiculous. I grew up here, and they didn’t do this,” Delgado said. “Now you’ve got people coming in from the Bay Area, and it’s gotten so bad.