By the time the last gunshot echoed away,
the birthday candles were still unlit.
Parents held trembling children behind parked cars
, some whispering prayers,
others frozen in disbelief as officers
rushed into the bullet-riddled home.
The smell of frosting mixed with the metallic sting of blood,
a scene so violently wrong that even seasoned first responders struggled to describe it.
Now, Stockton waits in a stunned, aching quiet.
Hospital rooms are crowded with families bracing for news,
while detectives replay grainy surveillance clips frame by frame,
searching for a face, a license plate, a reason.
Neighbors leave flowers and stuffed animals near the house,
careful not to cross the yellow tape.
A child’s birthday banner still hangs in the yard,
fluttering in the wind, a painful reminder
of how ordinary the day was—until it wasn’t.
