A night of last-minute Halloween shopping turned tragic at a Spirit Halloween store this weekend when gunfire left a pregnant woman dead and six people injured. Frightening video from inside the store captured shoppers scrambling for cover as the shooting unfolded.
Shots were fired at approximately 8:30pm on Friday at the seasonal store in Fairfield, a city outside San Francisco. The gunman remained unidentified, and no arrests had been made, according to the Fairfield Police Department.
Police announced Saturday afternoon that the only person killed was 31-year-old Constance Hages. Her family told authorities that she was pregnant.
Three male victims, aged 16, 19 and 32, were hospitalized in critical condition. Their identities have not been released.
A 23-year-old man was also hospitalized in critical but stable condition. Two other victims, a 19-year-old man and a 43-year-old man, were treated for gunshot wounds and later released, police said.
Video recorded by a witness showed terrified shoppers dropping to the ground and hiding as gunshots echoed through the Spirit Halloween store.
Jocelyn Lopez Tabares, 15, told the New York Post that she began recording the scene as evidence before calling her mother.
When the shooting began, she initially thought a balloon had burst. Her older sister then pulled her to the ground.
Gunshots rang out inside a Spirit Halloween store on Friday night in Fairfield, California, leaving one person dead and six injured
Constance Hages, 31, was identified as the fatality in the shooting. Family members told police that she was pregnant. Picture source: Tonya Marzett/Facebook
‘I was in shock, and everyone just went down. My sister pulled me down because I couldn’t move. I was so scared,’ Lopez Tabares recalled.
‘All I could hear was people screaming and running from the back to the front,’ she added.
Lopez Tabares said she believed she might die, telling the newspaper: ‘I didn’t want to die that way.’
She described customers rushing toward the exits while she and her sister stayed hidden inside the store, fearing for their lives.
The shaken teenager also recalled hearing a mother cry out for her baby after the gunfire began.
Miena Davis, another witness, gave a similar account to local NBC affiliate KCRA. She said she heard a mother calling for her child and described the store as descending into ‘immediate panic.’
Javier Espinoza told the outlet that he and his girlfriend moved toward the front of the store during the shooting. He and another witness lifted the security gate, allowing shoppers to flee.
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Janet Jacobo, who had been shopping with her three sons, told the New York Times that she ran from the store with her youngest child in her arms after hearing the gunshots.
Jacobo said her children were terrified. In an effort to reassure them after the traumatic experience, she told them it had been a ‘scary show at the Halloween store.’
Authorities said three men, aged 16, 19 and 32, were hospitalized in critical condition. A 23-year-old man was hospitalized in critical but stable condition. Two additional victims, including a 19-year-old man and a 43-year-old man, were later released.
No arrests have been made in connection with the shooting and an investigation is ongoing. The incident prompted a large police presence
The investigation into the shooting is still active and ongoing. The Fairfield Police Department said on Saturday morning that it is believed to have ‘stemmed from a targeted incident involving one suspect inside the Spirit Halloween store.’
‘We encourage everyone to remain vigilant, look out for one another, and report any suspicious activity,’ the department added in a statement.
‘The safety of our community remains our priority, and our department remains committed to working alongside our community to ensure everyone can enjoy a safe Halloween.’
Separately, another community was rocked on Friday night when a second shooting unfolded while revelers were shopping for last-minute costumes at a Spirit Halloween in Michigan.
Shots rang out at the store following an altercation between a 21-year-old man from Detroit and a 21-year-old male from Oak Park, according to the Madison Heights Police Department.
The Detroit man sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was rushed to a local hospital, where he later died. A 9mm handgun was recovered at the scene.
The Oak Park man sustained non-life-threatening injuries after he was assaulted by bystanders before officers took him into custody. The department said investigators anticipate forthcoming criminal charges.
Another shooting also unfolded at a Spirit Halloween store in Michigan on Friday. The suspect’s wife, Alanna, claimed her husband shot in self-defense
The suspect’s wife, named only as Alanna, told Click on Detroit that her husband shot in self-defense.
She said they were leaving the store with their three children when an acquaintance confronted them. Alanna claimed her husband fired a shot fearing the man was armed.
‘If he didn’t have that gun, and we walked out here and all those people would’ve jumped on him, would I be at the hospital right now praying over my husband? He defended me, himself, and his kids,’ she said.
The Daily Mail has reached out to the Fairfield Police Department and the Madison Heights Police Department for updates on the investigations into both shootings.