Four people were killed and 10 wounded in a shooting during a family gathering at a banquet hall in Stockton, sheriff's officials said Saturday.
Details: The victims included both children and adults, said Heather Brent, a spokesperson for the San Joaquin County sheriff's office.
What's next: Early indications "suggest this may have been a targeted incident," Brent said during a news conference at the scene. Local officials said the suspected shooter has not been caught and pleaded with the public for help. Detectives were still working to identify a possible motive.
STOCKTON, Calif. — Four people were killed and 10 wounded in a shooting during a family gathering at a banquet hall in Stockton, sheriff's officials said Saturday.
The victims included both children and adults, said Heather Brent, a spokesperson for the San Joaquin County sheriff's office. Early indications "suggest this may have been a targeted incident," Brent said during a news conference at the scene.
Local officials said the suspected shooter has not been caught and pleaded with the public for help. Detectives were still working to identify a possible motive.
"If you have any information as to this individual, reach out immediately. If you are this individual, turn yourself in immediately," San Joaquin County District Attorney Ron Freitas said during a news conference.
The shooting occurred just before 6 p.m. inside the banquet hall, which shares a parking lot with other businesses. Stockton is a city of 320,000 about 40 miles (64 kilometers) south of Sacramento.
"Families should be together instead of at the hospital, standing next to their loved one, praying that they survive," Mayor Christina Fugazzi said.
Authorities did not immediately provide additional information about the conditions of the victims. Officials said earlier that several were taken to hospitals.
The Vermont Square Branch of the LA Public Library opened in 1913.
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LaMonica Peters
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The LA Local
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Topline:
More than a century after it first opened its doors, the Vermont Square Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library is still operating out of its original building, nestled among the homes on West 48th Street.
The backstory: The Vermont Square Branch was built in 1913 on what had been park land that was donated by the City of Los Angeles. It was funded with a Carnegie Foundation grant, the philanthropy of industrialist Andrew Carnegie, who funded the arts, higher education and public libraries after making his fortune in steel in the late 19th century.
Why it matters: For generations, it’s been considered a safe place and gathering spot for people who may otherwise have no place to go. Today, the neighborhood council uses the room in the library’s basement for meetings, the grassy area out back is a place to relax, and for some, the building is a refuge from hot- and cold-weather days.
Read on ... to learn more about why this branch means so much to the community.
More than a century after it first opened its doors, the Vermont Square Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library still is operating out of its original building, nestled among the homes on West 48th Street.
It’s not just a library. For generations, it’s been considered a safe place and gathering spot for people who otherwise may have no place to go. Today, the neighborhood council uses the room in the library’s basement for meetings, the grassy area out back is a place to relax, and for some, the building is a refuge from hot- and cold-weather days.
Of course, people also go there to read books, for free access to the internet and for children’s programming. But they also go there to find peace and quiet amid the hustle and bustle of inner-city Los Angeles.
“It feels safe. It’s pretty big. It’s nice inside and comfortable. There are people to talk to, and I can meet friends,” resident Moses Rogers told The LA Local.
The Vermont Square Branch was built in 1913 on what had been park land donated by the city of Los Angeles. It was funded with a Carnegie Foundation grant, the philanthropy of industrialist Andrew Carnegie, who funded the arts, higher education and public libraries after making his fortune in steel in the late 19th century.
The library is not the oldest branch in the city system, but it’s the first library building owned by the city. All other city libraries and facilities were housed in rented spaces.
It was designed in the architectural style of the Italian Renaissance, and you still can find the original circulation desk, windows that allow in natural light, old furniture and marble fixtures inside the library.
Branch manager Martha Sherod has worked at the library for 13 ½ years and calls the Vermont Square Branch a hidden treasure that some in the neighborhood can overlook. She said some people think it’s a government building, but for the people who grew up using the library, it symbolizes being home.
“People come here for a purpose, they want to be here. We really like serving them,” Sherod told The LA Local. “Now that I’ve been here so long, I’ve seen kids grow up from being little kids to college students. So, it’s really been a joy for me.”
Sherod said the branch holds about 24,000 items and has 4,500 visitors a month on average. The library also offers adult and teen programming, including free legal advice, health screenings, arts and crafts and book club activities.
“The library isn’t just for quietly sitting and reading. There’s usually a lot of good activities happening. There are resources that you can use at home by downloading or just coming in here,” Sherod said.
The Vermont Square Branch was designated by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission in 1983 after the community rallied to keep the building from being replaced. The exterior of the building remains the same, although the library was retrofitted for earthquake safety in 1990, a process that caused the branch to close to the public for six years.
Longtime Vermont Square resident Fletcher Fair told The LA Local she’s been going to the branch since the late 1960s, and the library will always be a cornerstone of the community.
“It’s the neighborhood library, and that’s where everyone went and prospered. We hung out, studied and partied,” she said. “There were a lot of events here.”
A vial of the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccination for children is displayed during an immunization event at the L.A. Care and Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan Community Resource Center in the Panorama City neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.
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PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images
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AFP
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Topline:
The first measles case of the year in Los Angeles County has been confirmed by the county public health department.
Details: Public health officials said Friday a county resident who recently traveled abroad has been confirmed to have measures. Authorities have not identified locations, other than healthcare settings, where the person could have exposed others.
Read on ... to find more information.
The first measles case of the year in Los Angeles County has been confirmed by the L.A. County Department of Public Health.
County public health officials said Friday a county resident who recently traveled abroad has been confirmed to have measles. Authorities have not identified any locations, other than healthcare settings, where the person could have exposed others.
Affected healthcare facilities are contacting patients and employees about potential exposure. County officials are also in the process of identifying those who may have had contact with the person.
Measles spreads easily through the air and can stay on surfaces for many hours. Those infected can spread the virus before showing symptoms, which can take weeks to appear.
Symptoms includea fever above 101 degrees, cough, runny nose, red-watery eyes and a rash that typically starts on the face.
So far, 588 measles cases of measles have been reported in the U.S. this year, the highest number of cases in a January since the U.S. eliminated measles in 2000. Most of these cases are linked to outbreaks in South Carolina, Arizona and Utah.
The L.A. County Department of Public Health is encouraging Angelenos to check their immunization statuses for a Measles, Mumps, Rubella vaccine to determine if they’re protected against the virus.
Residents should also notify their health providers for guidance in the case of a potential exposure.
If symptoms develop, contact a healthcare provider via phone as soon as possible, L.A. Public Health advises people to not physically go into a health care facility before notifying them of measles symptoms.
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Mariana Dale
reports on the financial challenges facing educators — and public school districts. She covered the 2023 LAUSD strike.
Published January 31, 2026 7:19 AM
UTLA’s bargaining team has met with the district more than a dozen times since negotiations began last February.
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Ashley Balderrama
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Topline:
The leaders of the Los Angeles Unified teachers union now have the power to call for a strike if they can’t reach a deal over pay, benefits and student support with the district.
More: About 94% of United Teachers Los Angeles members who voted cast a ballot in favor of authorizing a strike. The results were announced Saturday. Union members include school psychologists, counselors and nurses.
What now? The strike authorization vote does not guarantee teachers will stage a walk out this semester. First the union must exhaust all steps of the collective bargaining process.
Why it matters: Among other proposals, the union is asking for raises and changes to the salary schedule so that newer teachers who complete professional development can earn increases more quickly. The district has said it cannot afford what the union has proposed.
Keep reading: For more on the next steps and what it means for LAUSD families.
The leaders of the Los Angeles Unified teachers union now have the power to call for a strike if they can’t reach a deal over pay, benefits and student support with the district.
United Teachers Los Angeles’ has about 37,000 members. Of those that voted, 94% voted in favor of authorizing a strike. The tabulation process lasted late Friday night, and results were announced overnight Saturday.
Union members, which include school psychologists, counselors and nurses, simultaneously voted to approve an agreement that preserves existing health benefits without increasing costs to educators.
The strike authorization vote does not guarantee teachers will stage a walk out this semester. First the union must exhaust all steps of the collective bargaining process.
Stephanie Castro teaches 7th grade English at Luther Burbank Middle School in Highland Park and voted for the strike authorization.
“ I will do what needs to be done to fight for these proposals,” Castro said. “I want to make it super clear to Angelenos that teachers don't want to go on strike. We absolutely would rather be in our classrooms with our students… We also know that things cannot continue as they are.”
In a statement Saturday, the district pointed to other recent agreements with its labor unions, while also citing fiscal challenges related to declining enrollment and other factors: "We recognize the real financial strain on educators and staff, but must make difficult decisions to preserve classrooms, student services, and long-term stability within finite resources."
How did we get here? And what happens next?
UTLA’s bargaining team has met with the district more than a dozen times since negotiations began last February.
The union declared an impasse in December, a legal step that triggers intervention from a neutral mediator appointed by the state’s labor relations board.
Wednesday, the mediator determined the two parties would move to the next step in the process, fact-finding, where a representative from the union, the district and the California Public Employment Relations Board collectively develop a recommendation to settle the negotiations.
The rejection of this panel’s recommendation could lead to a strike— or more negotiating.
A recent history of LAUSD strikes
March 2023: Teachers walked off the job in solidarity with striking school support staff.
As in previous contract talks, the proposals that cost the most money are those that take the longest to hash out.
The union is asking for raises and changes to the salary schedule so that newer teachers who complete professional development can earn increases more quickly. UTLA estimated before mediation, that this would amount to an average pay increase of 16% the first year and 3% the following year. The annual ongoing cost to the district would be about $840 million.
The district has said it cannot afford what the union has proposed and has offered annual increases of 2.5% the first year and 2% the second year with a one-time payment of 1%.
“Significant distance remains between what the District can responsibly offer and what UTLA proposes,” read a Jan. 28 statement from LAUSD.
The union’s other proposals include more investment in arts education, legal aid for immigrant families, and staff to support students’ mental health.
Castro, the middle school teacher, said she notices a difference when her students have access to the school’s psychiatric social worker and other wraparound services.
“It allows them to be fully present in the classroom,” Castro said. “They're not so worried about things that are happening outside of it and can really focus on that essay that they need to write or developing a thesis statement.”
Are you a UTLA member? Share your thoughts on why your union needs a new deal — or doesn't — with me via email.
Fiona Ng
is LAist's deputy managing editor and leads a team of reporters who explore food, culture, history, events and more.
Published January 31, 2026 6:14 AM
The Bonaventure, view from one of the pedways leading to an entrance.
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Fiona Ng
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LAist
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Topline:
Looking for things to do this week? How about spending a couple hours inside Harry Style’s latest music video?
What? The video for Aperture features the Westin Bonaventure hotel, the mirrored, futuristic-looking behemoth on Figueroa Street in downtown L.A.
So? The building offers a pretty unique experience in and of itself for how visually and spatially disorienting it is.
It's not everyday you can credit one of the world's biggest pop stars for rekindling your memories of a place.
So, thank you, Harry Styles, for reminding us of the mesmerizing, confounding, iconic and the brashly weird wonders of the Bonaventure Hotel in downtown L.A.
Last week, the singer returned to pop music after a four-year respite with the surprise release of a new album. Along came the first music video for “Aperture,” a breezy electronic number that unfolds as a non-sequitur romp through a sleek hotel — beginning as an inexplicable chase, then breaks into a long, nifty dance sequence, and crescendos in a hat tip to Dirty Dancing.
The absurdity makes for a nice fit.
In the video, when Styles steps onto the escalator before realizing he is being followed, a distant recognition went off in my head.
The escalator at the Bonaventure.
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Fiona Ng
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The Bonaventure has no bad angles.
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Fiona Ng
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LAist
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That hunch grew more certain when he and his pursuer tumbled down a spiral of staircases that's almost Hitchcockian in its composition.
Spiraling staircase inside the Bonaventure.
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Fiona Ng
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LAist
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The Bonaventure's curved skylight.
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Fiona Ng
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And later, when the two somersault through a cocktail lounge with Los Angeles twinkling in the backdrop, the setting could only have been The BonaVista, the revolving restaurant (yes, it really spins) on the 34th floor of the Bonaventure.
Making a cameo
Styles is the latest among a long list of artists and moviemakers to make use of the location. In 1993's In the Line of Fire, Clint Eastwood and John Malkovich had their big shoot-out finale there, and managed to squeeze in a little repartee inside one of its famous capsule elevators. More recently, Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s "Luther" and Maroon 5 and LISA's "Priceless" prominently featured the hotel.
Bonaventure under construction in the mid-1970s.
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Los Angeles Public Library Institutional Collection / LAPL
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The Bonaventure in 1987.
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James Ruebsamen
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Los Angeles Herald Examiner Photo Collection / LAPL
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Since it opened inJanuary 1977, the behemoth — towering hundreds of feet over Figueroa Street with some 1,400 rooms and the reigning title as Los Angeles's largest hotel — all but demanded the attention.
The Bonaventure was built between 1974 and 1976 in the midst of Bunker Hill's redevelopment that started two decades back with land seizures through eminent domain and the evictions of thousands of low-income Angelenos.
The ambition was to remake the urban core into a world-class arts and cultural destination.
The atrium of the Bonaventure.
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Fiona Ng
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Architect and real estate developer John C. Portman brought his signature vaulting atrium to the task. For the Hyatt in his hometown of Atlanta, that feature was 22 stories high. For the Bonaventure, the atrium was seven.
Raw concrete of the Bonaventure.
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Fiona Ng
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The staircases.
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Fiona Ng
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LAist
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Portman's idea was to create a city within its walls, and populated his creation with shops, restaurants and other amenities so people simply wouldn’t have to leave.
The Bonaventure’s interior has been described as Brutalist in style, a raw concrete maze of dangling lounges, shooting columns, swirling staircases, curved walkways, glass elevators and seemingly dead ends. Its mirrored and cylindrical exterior has been called postmodern and futuristic.
Bonaventure in 1977.
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Tom LaBonge
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Los Angeles Photographers Photo Collection / LAPL
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The Bonaventure in 1989.
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William Reagh
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Los Angeles Photographers Photo Collection / LAPL
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A returned visit
I have always thought of it looking a little dated, like a sad disco ball.
A few days ago, I went to the Bonaventure again for old times’ sake. I took this same walk several times a week for six years, when I worked downtown in the mid-aughts. Back then, this network of pedways was really our only way to get to any place for coffee or lunch.
View of the Bonaventure taken from the 3rd and Fig. pedway.
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The Bonaventure was one of our options, with its food court on the fourth floor. Sometimes, I spent my lunch simply walking its various floors, entranced by the vast, hushed space that felt somehow endless and somewhat abandoned. I have always thought it was the perfect setting for a chase scene.
On my latest visit, the lines and curves were clashing and crisscrossing in ways that I hadn't before noticed. Culturaltheorists have famously written about the disorientation the building is said to inspire — how easily you can feel lost.
And what a privilege it is.
Thanks, Harry, for the nudge to go and spend a couple leisurely hours getting lost in a quintessentially Los Angeles riddle.
