A gunman opened fire inside a Spirit Halloween store at the Solano Town Center mall in Fairfield, California, on Friday night, killing 31 year old Constance Hages, who her family says was pregnant, and wounding six other people.
The shooting happened at about 8:30 p.m. on October 30 at the mall on Travis Boulevard, Fairfield police said. Officers found seven people with gunshot wounds, ABC News reported. Police said the shooting "stemmed from a targeted incident involving one suspect inside the Spirit Halloween store." As of Saturday no one had been arrested, and police had not released a description of the shooter or a motive.
The victims
Police identified the woman who died as Hages. Relatives told police she was expecting a child, and police said an autopsy will confirm it, Local News Matters reported.
Four of the six wounded were still hospitalized as of Saturday. Police listed three in critical condition, ages 16, 19 and 32, and a 23 year old whose condition was critical but stable. Two more, ages 19 and 43, had been treated and released. All six were male. Police believe someone in the store was the intended target, but they have not said whether that person was among those shot.
The investigation
Police Chief Dan Marshall said detectives were "diligently working to identify the suspect or suspects responsible for this horrific shooting," NBC News reported. The FBI's Sacramento field office said it sent its evidence response team to help. At a Friday night briefing Marshall said, "I know the mall has cameras, so hopefully we'll get some of that footage." By Saturday, police said, detectives were going through video and other evidence to identify the shooter.
Fairfield police ask anyone with information to call 707 428 7600 or email 1030mall@fairfield.ca.gov.
What California law says about the unborn child
This is where the case could become far more serious for whoever is charged. California's murder statute, Penal Code Section 187, defines murder as "the unlawful killing of a human being, or a fetus, with malice aforethought." The exceptions in the statute cover lawful abortions and acts done by or with the consent of the pregnant person. None of them describes a shooting by someone else.
That matters for sentencing. Under Penal Code Section 190.2, first degree murder carries death or life without parole if a special circumstance is proved, and one of those is that the defendant "has been convicted of more than one offense of murder in the first or second degree" in the same proceeding. If prosecutors charge the death of the unborn child as a second murder and a jury convicts on both, that special circumstance could apply. Whether it fits will depend on facts not yet public, starting with the autopsy that police say will confirm the pregnancy.
Our count: what a charging decision could look like
Here is the arithmetic on the facts police have released so far. One woman killed and, per her family, one unborn child. Six people wounded, four of them still hospitalized as of Saturday. That means up to two potential murder counts and six potential attempted murder or assault with a firearm counts, depending on what prosecutors can prove about intent toward each person. Because police describe the attack as targeted, intent toward the people who were not the target is likely to be a central legal fight if someone is charged. Any person arrested will be presumed innocent.
For a recent fatal shooting where prosecutors declined to bring charges at all, see Officer Who Shot 1-Year-Old Kohen Wiley Resigns After Mississippi Rules the Force Justified. For a case where a mass shooter faces a possible death sentence, read Buffalo Supermarket Gunman Already Has Life. Now a Jury Will Weigh Death.
Two Taps News stories summarize reporting and the analysis discussed on Two Taps and Friends. They are not legal advice. Read our standards.
