Stray Bullet Rips Through Wall, Wounds Stockton Girl, 13, Inside Her Own Home

A 13-year-old girl was shot inside her own home in Stockton's Seaport District Thursday evening after a bullet fired by someone in another room tore through a wall and struck her. She was taken to the hospital with injuries described as non-life-threatening, and as of this week, police have not released any suspect information.

According to KCRA 3, the shooting happened just before 8 p.m. Thursday in the 600 block of Queensland Circle. Officers determined that someone in another room fired the gun that sent the bullet through the wall and into the girl, police said. Official dispatch logs confirm officers responded to the scene at 7:49 p.m. that evening for a shooting-into-a-dwelling call, according to Stockton Police Department records posted to the department's Facebook page.

A Neighborhood Already Under Scrutiny

Queensland Circle sits within Stockton's District 5, an area local leaders have flagged repeatedly amid a string of shootings. Vice Mayor Jason Lee renewed calls in July for a dedicated police substation in the Seaport District after a string of violent incidents, including one that wounded a city violence prevention worker on South Van Buren Street, as reported by SFGATE. Those calls for added police infrastructure have persisted even as the neighborhood continues to see periodic gun violence.

The shooting also lands amid a broader citywide trend. Stockton's overall violent crime rate had dropped to a 15-year low through 2025, but the city saw a mid-2026 spike in gun violence, recording seven homicides in June alone — its deadliest June since 2015, according to Stocktonia. The outlet also reported that Stockton logged 43 non-fatal shooting incidents in the first six months of 2026, down slightly from 48 during the same period in 2025.

What Charges Could Apply If a Suspect Is Identified

Investigators have not said whether the shooter was in the same housing unit or an adjacent residence, nor whether the firearm was legally owned or properly secured. If the discharge is determined to have been grossly negligent, prosecutors could pursue charges under California Penal Code § 246.3, a wobbler offense that can be charged as a misdemeanor or a felony carrying state prison time even without intent to harm, per FindLaw. Separately, if a minor is found to have accessed an improperly stored loaded weapon, California's criminal storage of a firearm law, Penal Code § 25100, can elevate the offense to a felony when a child's access leads to injury, according to the Giffords Law Center.

Stockton has confronted the danger of stray indoor gunfire before. In 2021, 15-year-old Sonyvion Pouncey was killed inside her home when a bullet penetrated an exterior wall while she was doing homework, a case that drew national attention, according to The Murder Channel. That earlier tragedy helped fuel local anti-violence efforts that continue to shape how the city responds to indoor shootings today.

City Programs Target Home Gun Safety

Stockton Police Chief Stanley McFadden has pointed to two department initiatives launched in 2025, See Something, Say Something and Parenting with a Purpose, both aimed at curbing youth-related gun crime and urging residents to secure firearms at home, according to ABC10. National research underscores why that message matters: a CDC study found 85% of fatal unintentional gun injuries among children happen inside a home, with more than 60% of accidental shootings involving 11- to 15-year-olds caused by another person handling the weapon.

Everytown for Gun Safety's #NotAnAccident index similarly found that more than 70% of unintentional child shootings nationwide occur inside residences, though the group notes California's strict safe-storage laws have helped keep the state's unintentional child shooting rate among the lowest in the country. Whether those storage laws come into play in the Queensland Circle case remains an open question, as police have not disclosed how the firearm was stored or who owns it.

The shooting adds to a string of gun violence cases Hoodline has tracked in the Seaport District, including a fatal shooting tied to the area's 31st homicide last October. No arrests have been announced in the Queensland Circle case, and Stockton police have not indicated when more details might be released.