Teen dead, 3 people injured in shooting at Bay Area high school graduation ceremony

A shining night for Sem Yeto High seniors took a tragic turn Wednesday with a deadly shooting at Fairfield High School.

One person was killed, and three others were injured in the shooting, which took place in the Schafer Stadium parking lot about an hour after the graduation ceremony began.

Fairfield police said the age of the deceased victim is 18, but wouldnt say if he or she was a student. Police said the others injured in the shooting are ages 11, 20 and 25, but wouldn’t say if they were male or female.

A news release by the Fairfield Police Department on Thursday morning states that “the department is aware of a rumor circulating on social media that the 11-year-old passed away due to injuries sustained in this incident. This is not accurate and the child is currently recovering at a local hospital. The identities of the victims are not being released currently pending next-of-kin notification and to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation.”

There was also no description of the shooter or shooters given by police at either news conference at 9 and 11 p.m. on Wednesday night. As of 10 p.m. Wednesday, helicopters patrolled the area, and police officers were still stationed at the school and on North Texas Street near Air Force Parkway and Atlantic Avenue.

Fairfield police officer Michelle Belyea said at the second news conference on Wednesday night that, “There is no ongoing threat to the community right now.”

“It’s a very scary incident when something like this does happen,” Belyea said. “Especially at the end of the year school event. Obviously, we just want everyone to be safe.”

Belyea confirmed that four victims sustained gunshot wounds, but couldn’t comment on whether the fatality was pronounced dead at the scene or at a nearby hospital.

According to the Fairfield Police Department news release on Thursday morning, the event was attended by approximately 1,000 people, with hundreds of potential witnesses to this tragedy. Fairfield Police detectives are currently identifying and interviewing these witnesses and are actively following up on investigative leads. As this is an on-going investigation, no additional information is available for release.

Anyone with information related to this incident is encouraged to contact the Fairfield Police Investigations Tip Line at (707) 428-7345 or email [email protected].

“This is a super active scene right now,” Belyea said. “We still have our officers out there speaking with witnesses, trying to determine exactly what happened, and follow up on any leads we had.”

Belyea said she didn’t know what started the incident.

Belyea said there was nobody in custody as of 9:30 p.m. but that the department was still looking for a shooter or shooters. Belyea also couldn’t say if any part of the school was in lockdown after the incident.

“In an event like this, when you have such a large-scale incident with a lot of victims and a lot of witnesses to get through, then we usually reach out for mutual aid. I don’t know what mutual aid we have already reached out to, but that is something we usually do.”

Fairfield Mayor Cat Moy said she didn’t have many details, but that information would come soon from the Fairfield Police Department.

“My heart is breaking for the students and families involved,” Moy wrote on social media. “I graduated from Fairfield High, and I can’t get my head and heart around this tragedy. I’m shaken to the soul. The shooter will face justice, but now I’m praying for the families affected and all of those who witnessed the shootings.”

Attending the second news conference was Suisun City Mayor Alma Hernandez.

“This is absolutely heartbreaking and I’m absolutely here for community,” Hernandez said. “I’ve received a lot of outreach for our students. All of are high schools that serve Suisun City are in Fairfield. These are our students and families that are hurting. It’s defintely one of the things I’m mindful of is our families and students and how they are facing the tradegy. For the people that were there, we want to make sure they are taken care of.”

When asked if there will be heightened security at future graduations in the next week or years go come, Hernandez said she hadn’t heard of any cancelation of graduations this month.

“We are aware students might be scared at this time, so our priorities are to make sure the students feel safe and our hearts are with the victims that were affected today,” Hernandez said. “We need to be mindful of our surroundings, but also be hopeful and courageous even though there are tragic events in our lives and in our communites. We need to move forward and heal together as a community, but also create awareness to create safe enviornments.

“All of our civic leaders in Fairfield and Suisun City, we want to make sure the locations were the families gather, we want to make sure everyone is safe,” Hernandez continued. “I believe we are all on the same page in regards to ensure safety. This is tragic and something none of us saw coming and something none of us believe would happen in our close-knit communities.”

The Fairfield Police Department said on Thursday morning that the Vacaville Police Department, Solano County Sheriff’s Office, FBI, and ATF have added assistance with the initial response and ongoing investigation.

Check back for updates on this ongoing story later on Wednesday night and Thursday morning at timesheraldonline.com and thereporter.com.