17-year-old killed in Stockton shooting on Dovewood Street
STOCKTON — A homicide investigation is underway in Stockton after a teenager was shot and killed early Wednesday morning.
The family identified the teen as Jamal Calbert and said he had a one-year-old son. The family added that they believe Calbert's death was an accident, something Stockton police could not yet confirm.
Officers responded to the 600 block of Dovewood Street just before 2 a.m. to investigate reports of a person shot. A teen was found shot at the scene and was later declared dead at an area hospital.
No one is in custody, but the family calls this a nightmare unraveling in front of them.
"He was just loving. He was out the way. He loved everybody. He's somebody you meet and you say, 'OK he's fun,' " said Ariana, the victim's 16-year-old sister.
Ariana said she is trying to find strength, with her older brother not around anymore.
"When I heard, I got on the phone, and it just broke me," she said.
Being just one year apart, they had a close bond.
"Sometimes, I wish I didn't argue with him as much, because we spent so much time arguing with him," she said. "And now that he's gone, I just regret. Why did I spend so much time arguing with him?"
Calbert's family left balloons, candles and flowers for him at the scene of the shooting. He was only a few months away from graduating high school and just celebrated his son's first birthday.
"For somebody to take that away from him, his fatherhood, his childhood, he had a lot of growing to do. He was 17, and he had an only son," Ariana said. "Now, we gotta raise my nephew, and we got to do it for him."
The family said Calbert was playing around with a relative in the garage when he fell on top of the relative and a gun went off, hitting him in his upper body.
"It's not a scene you want to walk into when a 17-year-old is lying in the garage. It's important for us to be mindful of the integrity of the investigation and also be mindful of the family," said Stockton Police Officer Omer Edhah.
As of now, the shooting is being investigated as a homicide. There have been five homicides in Stockton so far this year, and two of them involve teenage victims — both 17 years old.
"I want it to be learned, like don't play with guns, especially in the house," Ariana said. "Don't have a bullet in the chamber or playing around with friends, and my brother should've known that and that's what broke me."
