VACAVILLE, Calif. — Organizers of Vacaville’s Fiesta Days say the shooting that happened during Sunday night’s concert was an isolated incident and does not define the community.
The suspected shooter, an 18-year-old from Suisun City, was quickly arrested. Another 18-year-old, from Fairfield, was hurt and taken to the hospital. He is expected to be okay.
Vacaville Police Department said a fight between the two men escalated into gunfire.
Despite Sunday evening’s shooting, Andrews Park in the heart of Vacaville was filled Monday afternoon with people attending Vacaville Fiesta Days, a 65-year tradition in the city. Monday marked the final day of the five-day event.
Many people in attendance Monday were well aware there had been a shooting near the stage just the night before.
“There was an off-duty Vacaville officer attending the event, who assisted in apprehending the suspect,” Lt. Katie Cordona with the Vacaville Police Department told ABC10. “The suspect was identified as an 18-year-old man out of Suisun (City), and he was taken into custody for various charges, including assault with a deadly weapon, attempted homicide and probation violation.”
Tina Asher brought her grandkids to Fiesta Days on Monday, saying she felt safe doing so, “because it’s daytime and it’s a Monday, and there’s not a lot of older kids out, just the little kids.”
She has lived in Vacaville since she was 8 years old and said she’s upset a shooting broke out at such a positive community event.
“I think it’s terrible,” Asher said. “Why are you going to come to a fair and get in a fight when there’s just kids here? If you want to cause trouble, stay home, you know. It messes it up for everybody else.”
Karen Juilfs is General Chair of Vacaville Fiesta Days and said she doesn’t want the shooting to overshadow the good of this event.
“It’s been two years that we’ve been gone due to COVID, so our return to our 65th was really important to us,” she said.
The festival already had additional security this year, which Juilfs said helped in the response to Sunday night’s shooting.
“We have new cameras installed that are 360 (degrees). We have a command center on-site with our Vacaville Police Department, which responded amazingly last night,” she said, adding that the suspect was arrested in a matter of minutes - and that the cameras caught everything.
Even more police were brought in for security on Monday, Lt. Cardona confirmed. Many could be seen walking around the festival grounds and interacting with attendees, handing out stickers to kids and keeping watch.
Some people commenting on the Vacaville Police Department’s Facebook page say they still have security concerns, including that there’s not a fence around the entire event, so ABC10 asked festival organizers about this.
“This park is designed to be open on all sides, for everyone to enter and everyone to enjoy,” Juilfs said. “We fence a huge portion of it, which is containment – to a point – but this park is not designed for that.”
Vacaville Fiesta Days Vice Chair Ralph Berumen said he’s encouraged that so many people showed up on Monday despite the shooting, saying it’s a sign of a strong Vacaville community.
“That’s great because they believe in (Fiesta Days),” Berumen said, “because (the shooting was) only a one-time incident. It’s nothing that happens every day in Vacaville.”
As for whether Sunday’s shooting will prompt any changes for next year’s Vacaville Fiesta Days, Juilfs said committee members will be discussing that in the near future.
Fiesta Days released this statement on the event’s Facebook page Monday:
Sunday night’s shooting “was an isolated incident. It does not define our community, who is standing together against violence. It’s sad that two individuals, from out of town, believe that they could destroy our 65 year anniversary of our event. We would like to express our greatest gratitude towards Vacaville police department for their swift actions that lead to the capture of the individuals involved. Although the incident was quickly resolved, the need to thoroughly investigate the crime scene led to the closure of the stage and nearby concessions stands. The festival will resume (Monday), as planned.”
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