Stockton City Council held its first scheduled session since the mass shooting that left four dead, as the community continues to grieve in the aftermath of the tragedy.

One of the first items on Tuesday's agenda was public comment, and the Council Chamber, where the meetings are held, was filled to capacity, so people were watching the livestream from the lobby.

Mnay residents were calling on the city to take action.

"Two nights ago, I found out it was my friend's daughter that got killed," Noel Valdivia, a Stockton resident, said. "He changed her name because he wanted her to have a chance, because of his past behavior. I didn't know until he called me and said, 'Hey, it was my daughter.' So, that hurt. And so now, here we are. I've been here before on the same issues, and what are we doing about it? What have we done? Nothing. And we need to not fight with each other."

Lilliana Udang, who was born and raised in Stockton, urged the council for unity.

"I implore you all as you consider the approach you're going to take, to really look at yourselves and question, are we doing this for the betterment of my kids and that generation, or are we doing it for points right now," Udang said. "Because what you need to be doing is looking at the data. Focused deterrence works. It does. Working with nonprofits that have a playbook in the event of mass shootings that currently exist here in the City of Stockton works. You just have to lead and ask."

Udang is raising her 7-year-old son in Stockton.

"I had to decide whether to shield him from the violence that I've known my entire life growing up here or expose him to the realities that we live in," Udang said. "And I chose the former, I chose to shield him because he's too young to be experiencing that violence. But, we know that two of those children were just one year older than him that died."

Alex Lima, a Delta Skywatchers Initiative organizer, is advocating for taking care of the trauma embedded throughout Stockton.

"This tragedy is not a selling point," Lima said. "Our community is in shambles right now. We need healing. We do not need political moves right now."

Lima said he thinks the narrative presented by the city's leadership to the media and community  "is not telling the full story, it's not telling an accurate representation of what's really been going on down here". 

Lima is calling for trauma-informed solutions with targeted intervention and diversion programs, and that the "violence that we experience here, it's not something that can be painted away with a youth program or a service program".

"It's not just something that like we can throw money at a program and hope that we are going to take a couple of kids off the street," Lima said. "No, we have to understand that there is a culture of scarcity, there is a culture of my tribe versus your tribe. Of my hood versus your hood that we have ingrained in us. I spent my whole life here."

Lifelong Stockton resident Debra Ellison said she's friends with one of the victims' families and a victim of gun violence herself. She said she's mourning for the victims and their families and is calling for funding to support the youth. 

"If you know something, say something, Ellison said. "At this point, I think that the authorities are doing all that they can, and there needs to be more people in the community who speak up and help out with this."

Councilmember Mariela Ponce said she prays for this council to work together and to stop the drama, that violence in this city needs to stop, urging the community to say something if they see something.

Councilmember Mario Enríquez said he wants to listen to the community, admitting there's so much in-fighting and asking the council for a meeting to revisit their vision as a council.

Mayor Christina Fugazi brought up the Stockton Marshall Plan on crime, saying it's the blueprint and that they do look at the data, including with Operation Ceasefire. 

Vice Mayor Jason Lee shared how he's been advocating for the youth, needs to rise above the drama, and displayed the pictures of each victim while he spoke and read a police report on youth homicides affecting kids of color. 

On Tuesday morning, Vice Mayor Lee held a press conference with Patrick Peterson, the father of 14-year-old victim Amari Peterson. 

The Youth Peace & Justice Foundation, also known as the Uvalde Foundation for Kids, announced it launched a three-year intervention in Stockton with plans to open a chapter in the city. The focus will be on racial disparities in violence, giving culturally-sensitive trauma support, and calling for legislative action, in light of each of the victims.

"Stockton's children deserve to grow up without the constant fear of gun violence," said founder Daniel Chapin. "Our intervention is not a temporary fix; it is a long-term commitment. We are leveraging our national resources to act as a Hub for immediate trauma support and advocacy, while simultaneously building enduring Anchorpoint programs on the ground that empower youth and foster a culture of peace and opportunity throughout the city."