A gunman walked into a packed Spirit Halloween store at the Solano Town Center in Fairfield, California, Friday night and opened fire — killing one person and wounding six others, three critically — before vanishing. No suspect is in custody. No description has been released. And another American community is left asking how this keeps happening.
Fairfield Police Chief Dan Marshall confirmed officers responded around 8:30 p.m. to the mall at 1350 Travis Blvd. Seven victims suffered gunshot wounds; one was pronounced dead at the scene. Three remain in critical condition at local hospitals. The identities and ages of the victims have not been released.
A Spirit Halloween employee fled to a nearby Chipotle, telling workers there that shooters "came in & just started shooting," according to the Vacaville Reporter, as cited by the New York Post. A witness told KCRA his wife heard roughly seven shots before crowds surged toward the parking lot and deeper into the mall.
Fairfield police called it a "very active crime scene" and said detectives were "diligently working to identify the suspect responsible for this horrific shooting." But as of the latest reports, police had no description of the shooter — or shooters. The New York Post noted that authorities "did not confirm if there were more than one suspect." No motive has been revealed.
SWAT teams swept the 130-store mall, clearing stores and even interrupting a screening of the horror film "Halloween" at the Regal Edwards theater. Moviegoer Caitlin Fry told CBS Sacramento a SWAT officer in full gear stormed in with a flashlight, asking if anyone armed had entered. Her partner, Marty McCoy, said the moment immediately recalled the Aurora, Colorado, theater massacre: "I told her I don't know what's going to happen when we walk out of here, just remember 'run, hide, fight' and I love you just in case."
The FBI Sacramento office confirmed it is deploying its Evidence Response Team to assist Fairfield police.
The Los Angeles Times highlighted the family angle — Daniela Seabra Rios described seeing a "sea of people running and screaming" from the parking lot, many of them families with children. Chara Brazley said her 24-year-old daughter, working at Ulta Beauty in the same center, called her in a panic as employees prepared to close.
Here is what none of the outlets addressed: who pulled the trigger, what their record looks like, and whether California's progressive prosecutorial regime — which has made a habit of emptying jails and reducing charges — played any role in putting a shooter back on the street. Fairfield sits in Solano County, under District Attorney Krishna Abrams, who has faced criticism from law enforcement for her office's handling of repeat offenders. None of the coverage touched it. The Post mentioned, almost in passing, that the shooting followed hours after a separate fatal shooting at a Spirit Halloween in Madison Heights, Michigan — but drew no further connection.
The establishment press will blame the weapon. Dissenter will keep asking about the system that let the shooter walk free in the first place.
The suspect remains at large. Anyone with information is asked to contact Fairfield Police at 707-428-7600 or [email protected].
