This is an update to Awaaz Punjab's first report of Friday night's shooting inside the Spirit Halloween store at Solano Town Center, in which one person died and six were wounded and no victim had yet been named. Read the first report
Fairfield police on Saturday identified the woman killed in Friday night's shooting inside the Spirit Halloween store at Solano Town Center as Constance Hages, 31. Her family told detectives that Hages was pregnant when she was killed, police said; that detail has not yet been medically confirmed and will be confirmed, police said, following an examination by the Solano County Coroner's Office.
Source: KION Central Coast
The identification is the first major development since gunfire broke out at about 8:30 p.m. on Friday, October 30, inside the seasonal Halloween store at the mall on Travis Boulevard in Fairfield, in Solano County, California. Seven people were shot. Hages died, and six men and boys were taken to hospital. Police had released no victim names on Friday night; on Saturday they named Hages and gave the ages and hospital conditions of every surviving victim for the first time.
The six wounded: ages and conditions in full
Three of the wounded remain in critical condition: a 16-year-old boy, a 19-year-old man and a 32-year-old man, police said. A 23-year-old man was also seriously injured but is in stable condition. Two other victims — a 19-year-old man and a 43-year-old man — received treatment for gunshot wounds and have been released from hospital, according to police. Police have not released the names of any of the six wounded, and Awaaz Punjab does not name minor victims: the 16-year-old is identified by age and city only.
Source: NBC Bay Area
A targeted incident, and one suspect still at large
In a Saturday morning update, Fairfield police said that, based on preliminary information, the shooting is believed to have stemmed from a targeted incident involving one suspect inside the Spirit Halloween store. The suspect fled before officers arrived and remained at large and unidentified on Saturday. No arrest has been announced, no suspect description has been released and no motive has been disclosed. Detectives are reviewing surveillance video and additional footage from the store and the mall and interviewing witnesses to identify the person responsible, police said.
"We recognize the concern and uncertainty this incident has created throughout our community, particularly with the many Halloween events and celebrations planned for today. We understand that an incident of this nature is frightening and deeply unsettling." — Fairfield Police Department
FBI help, a cancelled Mall-O-Ween, and a store that will not reopen
The FBI's Sacramento office said it responded to the scene and is helping Fairfield police with the investigation, including its Evidence Response Team. Solano Town Center remained open during regular business hours on Saturday, but the mall cancelled its scheduled Mall-O-Ween trick-or-treating event, set for 4:30 p.m., in light of the shooting. Spirit Halloween said the Fairfield store would not be reopening: in a statement, the retailer said it was "deeply saddened by the tragic incidents that occurred at our Spirit Halloween stores," extended condolences to the families affected, and said the affected stores will remain closed until the end of the season while its teams give full assistance to authorities.
Background: two Spirit Halloween shootings in one day, no link announced
Hours before the Fairfield shooting, a separate shooting inside a Spirit Halloween store in Madison Heights, Michigan, left a 21-year-old Detroit man dead; a man known to him was taken into custody there. Police in neither city have announced any connection between the two incidents, and none should be assumed — Spirit Halloween's statement referred to both stores. Fairfield itself sits on Interstate 80, the main highway and trucking corridor between Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area, and Solano Town Center — with about 130 stores and restaurants — is the city's main enclosed mall, serving families across Solano County, including Punjabi diaspora families who live and drive along the I-80 corridor.
What happens next
The Solano County Coroner's Office examination is expected to confirm or correct the family's account that Hages was pregnant. The central task for detectives remains identifying and arresting the single suspect police believe carried out a targeted attack, and establishing a motive. Anyone who witnessed the shooting or has photographs, video or other information is asked to contact the Fairfield Police Department at 707-428-7600 or by email at 1030mall@fairfield.ca.gov. Awaaz Punjab will report any arrest, suspect description or change in the condition of the three critical patients as police release it.