One person is dead and six others are wounded after gunfire broke out inside a Spirit Halloween store at Solano Town Center in Fairfield, California, at about half past eight Friday night, Oct. 30. Fairfield police say at least three of the wounded are in critical condition. No one has been arrested. Investigators have not named a suspect, and no motive has been released.
Most people scrolling past this headline have missed one detail. This was the second deadly shooting inside a Spirit Halloween store that same day. About nine and a half hours earlier, a man was shot and killed at a Spirit Halloween in Madison Heights, Michigan, just north of Detroit. It was the same brand and the same holiday rush, but the two cases ended very differently.
What happened in the Fairfield Spirit Halloween shooting?
Officers arriving at the mall on Travis Boulevard found seven people with gunshot wounds. One victim died. The other six were taken to local hospitals. Police have not released any names or ages.
Fairfield Police Chief Dan Marshall told reporters late Friday that the gunfire appeared to be centered on the Spirit Halloween store. He said detectives were still working to identify the person or people responsible. Marshall also pointed to the mall’s surveillance cameras as a possible break for investigators. Suisun City police, the Solano County Sheriff’s Office and the California Highway Patrol helped secure the scene and clear nearby buildings.
A Fairfield woman who was dropping her niece off at the mall told Bay Area reporters she heard a young person outside the store crying for help. She said he appeared to have been shot while trying to get away.
How did the Michigan Spirit Halloween shooting end differently?
In Madison Heights, police said two men, both 21, got into an argument inside the store on John R Road shortly after 2 p.m. Eastern time. A man from Oak Park shot a Detroit man multiple times. The Detroit man later died at a hospital. Officers took the Oak Park man into custody and recovered a handgun. Police said the two men knew each other and the shooting was not random.
That case had a suspect in custody the same afternoon. Fairfield ended its night with a grieving family, a taped-off crime scene and no name.
Why does the timing hit so hard?
Solano Town Center is the largest enclosed mall in Solano County, with more than 120 storefronts. On Halloween afternoon, it was scheduled to host an indoor trick or treat event for kids. As of early Saturday, police had not said whether it would go on. Less than a day after the shooting, those same hallways were supposed to fill with children in costumes carrying candy bags.
For many Black parents, this kind of math is already familiar. We decide which blocks to walk, which parties to allow and which places still feel right after dark. Indoor mall events have long been the safe alternative, a controlled space where kids can be kids. Friday chipped away at that idea in two states.
Has Solano Town Center seen gunfire before?
Yes. Fairfield police have responded to earlier shootings at the mall. In one past case, officers arrested a Sacramento teenager, 16, who they said shot someone he knew. Friday’s attack is on a different scale, with seven people struck in a single store.
What should people with information do?
Fairfield police are asking anyone who saw the shooting or has video from inside or around the mall to come forward. Tips can be sent by email to 1030mall@fairfield.ca.gov or called in to the Fairfield Police Department. The investigation is ongoing.
