Police Arrest Teen After Fairfield Halloween Shooting

Fairfield police arrested a 17-year-old boy Monday in connection with a shooting that killed Constance Hages, who was pregnant, and injured six other people at a Spirit Halloween store. The boy faces one count of murder and could face an additional murder count because Hages was pregnant, Fairfield Police Chief Dan Marshall said. Authorities won’t release the suspect’s name because he is a minor.

The shooting unfolded around 8:30 p.m. Friday at the Solano Town Center mall, as shoppers prepared for Halloween. A crowded retail space became the scene of a fatal attack. Police now control the investigation and the next steps in the criminal case.

The people left to carry the cost

Hages, 31, was killed. Gunfire injured six other people, including a 16-year-old boy and two men, ages 19 and 32, who remained in critical condition, Marshall said. A 23-year-old man was in stable condition while still classified as critically ill at a hospital. Authorities said two more men, ages 19 and 43, received treatment for gunshot wounds and later left the hospital.

By Monday, medical staff had stabilized all but one of the victims still hospitalized. One person remained in critical condition, Marshall said. Those figures mark the human toll behind the police account: one person killed, six injured, and families waiting for updates on people who’d been shot.

Officer Michelle Belyea, a police spokesperson, said the shooter entered the store and targeted someone specific. Marshall said the shooter used a handgun and that a previous altercation between him and a victim may have occurred. Police haven’t named the intended target in the account provided.

The police timeline and the charge

Detectives identified a suspect hours after the attack, police said, but delayed the arrest so they wouldn’t tip him off, Marshall said. Officers arrested the teen at his home in Suisun City, a municipality adjacent to Fairfield. Police believe he acted alone.

The investigation also reaches back to a separate incident. Marshall said the suspect opened fire on a vehicle at a local high school last year and spent a few months in custody as a result. The chief criticized what he characterized as a lack of accountability in that case, but the account gives no further details about the earlier incident or its outcome.

The police chief’s explanation puts the argument over accountability in the hands of the institution that investigates and pursues charges. The account describes no response from the victims’ families, no community-organized support, and no direct action or mutual aid after the shooting. It also reports no proposed legislative or electoral response.

Fairfield has more than 122,000 residents and sits about 45 miles northeast of San Francisco. The police and criminal charging process will now take up the investigation; the suspect’s identity remains withheld because he is a minor.

“This event shouldn’t have even occurred,” Marshall said. “California has gotten extremely soft on accountability with youth.”