Jocelyn Lopez Tabares, 15, and her 23-year-old sister were picking up last-minute accessories for their costumes Friday night at the Spirit Halloween store at the Solano Town Center in Fairfield when a barrage of shots erupted.
asserted
barrage → pick → shots
“I felt like I was going to die,” Lopez Tabares, of Vallejo, told the California Post.
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Tabares → feel → Post
“I thought it was going to be my last time living.
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it → think → ?
I didn’t want to die that way.”
The shooting, which left one person dead and six others injured, was a “targeted incident” carried out by a lone gunman, police announced.
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police → want → gunman
The suspect remained on the run as of Saturday afternoon.
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suspect → remain → afternoon
Lopez Tabares, who was standing near the checkout registers, initially mistook the gunfire for popping balloons, until her sister dragged her to the concrete floor, she recalled.
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she → stand → floor
“We were in line getting ready to leave,” Lopez Tabares said.
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Tabares → get → line
“Out of nowhere, we just hear at least 10 shots go off.
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shots → hear → nowhere
I thought it was a balloon popping.
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it → think → ?
I was in shock, and everyone just went down.
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everyone → go → shock
My sister pulled me down because I couldn’t move.
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I → pull → me
As dozens of shoppers scrambled toward the exits in panic, the 15-year-old found herself frozen on the floor.
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herself → scramble → floor
“All I could hear was people screaming and running from the back to the front,” she said.
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she → hear → front
The teen then pulled out her cellphone and began recording, determined to document the scene in case she did not survive.
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she → pull → case
“I just had a feeling to do it… to record for evidence,” she said.
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she → have → evidence
“And then after I stopped the video, I called my mom, because what if I wasn’t going to make it out of there?”
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I → stop → it
The footage shows the panic inside the store as people drop between merchandise racks and frantically take cover.
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people → show → cover
Lopez Tabares said she later shared the clip online after seeing early social media rumors questioning whether a shooting had even happened.
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shooting → say → rumors
Within minutes of the rapid gunfire, the bustling shop was nearly deserted, leaving only the sisters and a handful of terrified patrons hiding on the floor.
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shop → bustle → floor
That was when she heard the desperate cries of a frantic mother echoing through the aisles.
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cries → hear → aisles
“All I could hear was this mom yelling, ‘My baby, he’s dead!’
uncertain
he → hear → ?
She was just crying for him,” Lopez Tabares recalled.
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Tabares → cry → him
“She was like, ‘My son… you guys can’t leave him here.’
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guys → leave → him
She looked at my sister, but we couldn’t do anything.”
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we → look → anything
Authorities have not identified the person who was killed.
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who → identify → person
Other shoppers inside the retailer described a similarly surreal scene.
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shoppers → describe → scene
Witness Miena Davis told KCRA that shoppers initially froze after hearing popping sounds before a second round of gunfire sent people stampeding toward the mall entrance.
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round → tell → entrance
“It was immediate panic,” Davis said.
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Davis → say → ?
“You heard a mom crying out for their child.
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mom → hear → child
When Lopez Tabares and her sister finally stood up to run for their lives, they encountered a horrific scene near the exit.
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they → stand → exit
“While we were walking out, there were bodies right there,” she told The Post.
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she → walk → Post
they were not moving at all.”
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they → move → ?
Shaken and terrified, the sisters reached their car and drove to their Vallejo home.
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sisters → shake → home
The shooting occurred around 8:30 p.m. inside the pop-up retailer at the former Best Buy space.
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shooting → occur → space
Fairfield police announced Saturday morning that detectives are investigating the attack as a “targeted incident” carried out by a lone gunman who fled the property before officers arrived.
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officers → announce → property
The Aporia
