Teen arrested over fatal Spirit Halloween shooting in Fairfield, California
A 17-year-old has been arrested for a shooting at a Spirit Halloween store in Fairfield, CA, that killed a pregnant woman and wounded six others.
Teen held over Spirit Halloween store shooting that killed pregnant woman
A 17-year-old boy has been arrested in connection with last week's shooting at a Spirit Halloween store in Fairfield, California, that killed a pregnant woman and left six other people injured, NBC News reports.
The suspect, whose name is being withheld because he is a minor, faces one count of murder, Fairfield Police Chief Dan Marshall said at a press conference Monday. An additional murder charge is possible because the victim — 31-year-old Constance Hages — was pregnant at the time of the attack.
The shooting occurred around 8:30 p.m. on Friday at the Solano Town Center mall. The teen was arrested Monday afternoon at his home in Suisun City, a municipality adjacent to Fairfield, Marshall said.
Among the other victims, a 16-year-old boy and two men aged 19 and 32 were left in critical condition. A 23-year-old man was listed as stable in critical condition, while two other men, aged 19 and 43, were treated for gunshot wounds and subsequently released. By Monday, all but one of those still hospitalised had been stabilised.
Police spokesperson Officer Michelle Belyea said the shooter entered the store and deliberately targeted a specific individual before opening fire. Marshall added that the suspect used a handgun and that a previous altercation between the shooter and one of the victims may have preceded the attack.
Marshall also disclosed that the suspect had fired at a vehicle outside a local high school the previous year and had spent several months in custody as a result of that incident. He expressed frustration over what he described as insufficient consequences from that earlier case.
"This event shouldn't have even occurred," Marshall said. "California has gotten extremely soft on accountability with youth."
Detectives identified the suspect within hours of Friday's attack but held off on making an arrest to avoid alerting him, Marshall said. The suspect is believed to have acted alone.
Fairfield is a city of more than 122,000 residents, located approximately 45 miles northeast of San Francisco.
Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)