Violent weekend in Stockton leaves 2 teenagers killed, 3 others injured
STOCKTON - Five people were shot over the weekend in three separate shootings that spanned the city of Stockton. The victims range in age from 10 years old to 36 years old.
On Friday morning, Kaitlyn Valdovinos, 18, was shot and killed at Shropshire Park. Valdovinos moved to Stockton from Los Angeles so her dad could teach her how to drive, her mother told CBS Sacramento.
A friend of Valdavinos was also shot but is expected to survive. No arrests have been made and no suspect information is available yet on this shooting.
Another shooting early Saturday morning along South El Dorado Street left a 10-year-old with a gunshot wound in the back-right thigh. A 36-year-old family member, who was also shot, had a non-life-threatening injury.
The family inside the home say they feel lucky to be alive and call on investigators to find the person or persons responsible.
On Sunday night, a 16-year-old boy was shot and killed inside the Polo Run apartment complex on Palisades Drive.
Surveillance video gathered from that night shows police and ambulance responding shortly after the shooting. The teen was rushed to the hospital but didn't survive.
No one has been arrested in connection to this shooting either, Stockton Police Officer David Scott said.
"Any suspect information, if they were on foot or drove away from the scene is something the investigation will detail and hopefully we can move forward," he said.
These homicides make number 10 and 11 in the city this year alone. Compared to this same time last year, Stockton had 17 homicides. During that same timeframe, the department's staffing has decreased, adding strain to investigators.
"It's a little bit lower than where we want to be, but our recruitment department is working full-time to get those numbers up," Scott said.
According to officials, homicides have stayed between 40 and 50 since 2021, but sworn officers have gone down from 455 officers in 2021 to 344 officers in 2024.
The weather may also play a factor. Officials say sometimes better weather can translate to more shootings as more people are on the streets.
Comparing Stockton to a city like Fresno, Fresno had 74 homicides in 2021. However, as they had the highest number of uniformed officers in the city's history at 900, homicides were cut by more than half in 2023.