STOCKTON, Calif. (AP) — Family members were getting ready to cut the cake at a toddler's birthday party when the gunfire started inside a banquet hall packed with relatives and friends over the weekend in California.

“I actually thought it was my balloons popping. It was gunshots," said Patrice Williams, the birthday girl's mother.

Advertisement

Article continues below this ad

Her daughter, who turned 2, was uninjured. But Williams told The Associated Press on Monday that her sister, a cousin and three of her friends were shot in the burst of gunfire Saturday evening in Stockton.

Three children ages 8, 9 and 14 and a 21-year-old were killed in the hall where at least 100 people were gathered, San Joaquin County Sheriff Patrick Withrow said. Detectives believe the gunfire continued outside and there may have been multiple shooters.

Eleven people were wounded, and at least one is in critical condition, Withrow said. No one is in custody.

Williams said partygoers who had gathered around the cake dropped to the ground the moment the gunshots rang out.

Advertisement

Article continues below this ad

“It was just unexpected. I don’t know what happened, and I’m just so shocked and lost,” Williams said.

She expressed remorse for the mothers who lost their children.

Williams said she didn't get a look at the shooter and has no idea who would commit violence at what was supposed to be a joyous event.

Advertisement

Article continues below this ad

“They deserve to be in jail. They deserve to go to hell,” Williams said. “I’m sorry, but I just ... it’s not respectable. It’s a kids' party.”

Williams, surrounded by family members, teared up as she said parents who plan birthday parties for their kids should consider having them indoors because of the risk of violence.

The sheriff urged anyone with information........

© SFGate