Sheriff's officials collecting DNA from cars linked to Stockton mass shooting

Rosalio Ahumada, The Sacramento Bee on Feb 4, 2026

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San Joaquin County sheriff’s investigators identified and confiscated two cars believed to have been used in a November mass shooting in Stockton that killed four people and wounded more than a dozen others at a child’s birthday party.

The Sheriff’s Office announced the breakthrough in the investigation on Wednesday in social media posts, along with photos of the confiscated cars.

Sheriff’s officials said investigators were collecting traces of DNA from the cars in hopes of identifying those responsible for the deadly Nov. 29 shooting.

Three children, ages 8, 8 and 14, as well as a 21-year-old man were killed in the mass shooting. No arrests have been made.

Investigators seized a silver Volkswagen sedan and a white Honda sedan as evidence in the mass shooting investigation. The license plates do not appear on the cars in the photos. It’s unclear whether the confiscated cars were reported stolen before the Stockton shooting, and sheriff’s officials did not provide any other details about the cars.

“The vehicles have been processed for evidence, and we are in the process of collecting DNA for comparison,” sheriff’s officials said in the social media posts.

Gunfire erupted shortly before 6 p.m. Nov. 29 at the Monkey Space hall, in the 1900 block of Lucile Avenue in an unincorporated area of Stockton. More than a dozen people in the crowded venue were hit by gunfire.

Those killed in the mass shooting were Maya Lupian, 8, a third-grader at Stockton’s Aspire Apex Academy; Journey Rose Reotutar Guerrero, 8, a third-grader at Commodore Stockton Skills School; Amari Peterson, 14, of Modesto; and Susano Archuleta, 21, of Stockton.

The total number of shooting victims at the child’s birthday party increased to 17 after authorities learned of two men who were grazed by bullets. Both men had attended the party and suffered minor injuries in the shooting before seeking medical treatment at a nearby hospital without immediately alerting authorities.

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