XPost: alt.crime, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, talk.politics.guns   
   XPost: sac.politics, soc.culture.african.american   
   From: noreply@dirge.harmsk.com   
      
   STOCKTON, Calif. - 14-year-old Amari Peterson's life was cut short on   
   Saturday. He was one of the four victims killed in the Stockton shooting   
   at a two-year-old's birthday party over the weekend.   
      
   He was attending a family friend's festivities with his parents and his   
   three siblings when violence erupted.   
      
   "My son…he was full of life, laughter. The glue to our family," said   
   Kimberly Peterson, Amari's mother.   
      
   The other children who were killed were eight and nine years old. A   
   21-year-old was also killed in the attack at a banquet hall where   
   gunfire erupted.   
      
   "I feel so bad I wasn't able to save him," said Patrick Peterson, the   
   boy's father.   
      
   The father says he's struggling to come to terms with the sudden death   
   of his son.   
      
   "I just want my son back," said the boy's mother.   
      
   Patrick says his son left his side momentarily to go meet a rapper who   
   was at the gathering and then suddenly shots rang out.   
      
   "It was like pop, pop, pop, pop, pop," said the boy's father. "I'm   
   standing there for a second and starting…looking around." He said he saw   
   a lone gunman with a face mask on firing multiple shots in the direction   
   where his son was gathered with other people. He said it appeared the   
   shooter was aiming for the rapper.   
      
   "He started letting off shots and people were scrambling and falling,   
   getting out of the way," said Patrick.   
      
   He said he grabbed his one-year-old daughter as he was trying to make   
   his way to Amari. He found his son shot once in the chest.   
      
   "He was just gasping for air, he was just trying to breathe…me…trying   
   not to panic," said Patrick.   
      
   He ended up doing CPR on his son before medics arrived and eventually   
   took over.   
      
   Amari died at the hospital.   
      
   Bright future   
   The family is devastated at their loss. They say Amari was outgoing and   
   athletic. He was in the 8th grade. His mom says Amari had a bright   
   future ahead of him.   
      
   "For my son to only be 14 and lose his life… We were planning for where   
   he was going to go to high school, now we're planning his funeral," said   
   Kimberly.   
      
   Amari's 12-year-old sister, Kaesanii, showed where a bullet grazed her   
   arm. She ran from the shooting and fled out a back door.   
      
   The family has started an online fundraiser to help with expenses.   
      
   Other victims   
   What they're saying:   
   On Monday, former Stockton mayor, Michael Tubbs, a close friend of one   
   of the 11 victims injured in Saturday's shooting said that Jasmine   
   Dellafosse is still in the hospital, but her injuries are not considered   
   life-threatening.   
      
   Tubbs described her as a community leader, focused on reducing violence   
   in the city. He says her impact on the city is great and that she's even   
   depicted on a mural in the city, alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.   
      
   "This is a community problem," said Tubbs. "It's not just a problem   
   concentrated in bad people, but it's a problem that the whole community   
   will be impacted by and that's why we have to treat it with seriousness,   
   because any one of us could have been at a two-year-old's birthday   
   party."   
      
   Governor Gavin Newsom has ordered flags at the State Capitol to fly at   
   half staff in honor of the victims.   
      
   Manhunt intensifies   
   The manhunt has intensified for the suspects in Saturday's shooting.   
   Detectives say it's unclear who the target was, and they're   
   investigating whether multiple shooters were involved.   
      
   An apology   
   The mother of the two-year-old who hosted the birthday party expressed   
   heartbreak and apologized to the families affected.   
      
   Patrice Williams said she just started cutting the birthday cake when   
   gunshots rang out.   
      
    "Everybody just dove to the ground," she said. "I just really want to   
    say I'm sorry to all the mothers out there that lost their kids at my   
    birthday party."   
      
   Stockton's mayor said the shooting could be gang-related, but the   
   sheriff's office said it's too early to know for certain.   
      
   The FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for any information that   
   leads to an arrest and conviction of a suspect.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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