Police said the gunfire broke out after a Sem Yeto High School ceremony at Fairfield High School.
FAIRFIELD, CA — An 18-year-old was killed and three other people were wounded Wednesday night when gunfire erupted after a high school graduation ceremony in a parking lot at Fairfield High School, police said.
The shooting turned a graduation celebration into a large police response as families were leaving Schafer Stadium, where Sem Yeto High School held its commencement ceremony. Fairfield police said the surviving victims were an 11-year-old child and two adults, ages 20 and 25. No arrest had been announced by Thursday morning, and police said the motive remained under investigation.
The gunfire was reported about 7:15 p.m. Wednesday in the parking lot near the stadium, shortly after the ceremony ended. Officers and emergency crews arrived as graduates, relatives and staff were leaving the campus. Fairfield police Officer Michelle Belyea said at a news conference that the shooting was “a very scary incident,” especially because it happened at the end of a school event. Police said the 18-year-old victim died from injuries at the scene. The three wounded victims were taken to hospitals, but officials did not release their names or medical conditions.
Authorities had not said whether the person killed or the people wounded were students. Police also had not released a suspect description by Thursday morning. Video from the area showed officers working around vehicles in the parking lot, including cars that appeared to have been struck by bullets. One vehicle had graduation balloons tied to it, a sign of the celebration that had just ended. Police said they were treating the scene as active evidence and working to identify who fired the shots and why.
Sem Yeto High School is a continuation high school in the Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District. Its graduation was held at Fairfield High School, which has a larger stadium and campus space for ceremonies. The district said the shooting happened after the graduation ceremony had ended. A livestream of the commencement showed the ceremony beginning earlier in the evening, and local reports said the video did not show gunfire during the event itself. The shooting happened outside, as people gathered in the parking lot and took photos after the ceremony.
The Solano County Sheriff’s Office assisted Fairfield police after the shooting. Police said there was no continuing threat to the community, even as they continued searching for the shooter. Suisun City Mayor Alma Hernandez said shortly after the shooting that authorities were looking for the person responsible. Fairfield Mayor Catherine Moy said she was shaken by the violence and said her heart was breaking for the students and families affected. Moy, a Fairfield High School graduate, said the shooting struck a personal note because of her ties to the campus.
The shooting followed a tense period for the Fairfield school community. In May, a recorded arrest involving a Fairfield police officer and a student at Fairfield High School led to protests, a legal claim and an outside investigation into police conduct. That incident was separate from Wednesday’s shooting, and officials had not linked the two events. Still, the graduation shooting brought new attention to safety on and around the campus, where students and families had gathered for one of the final school events of the year.
Police were expected to review video, interview witnesses and process evidence from the parking lot. Investigators had not announced charges, a weapon recovery or a confirmed motive by Thursday morning. The names of the victims were also withheld pending official notifications and further investigation. Officials said more information would be released as it became available, but they gave no exact time for the next update. The district said classes would continue as scheduled through the week.
Witnesses described a rush of panic after the shots rang out. Families who had been celebrating scattered across the lot, and emergency vehicles soon filled the area around Fairfield High School. The ceremony had marked a milestone for Sem Yeto graduates, many of whom had just walked across the stage in front of relatives and friends. Within minutes, the school parking lot became a crime scene, with police tape, flashing lights and investigators moving between vehicles.
As of Thursday, June 4, police had reported no arrest and no public suspect description. The next major step in the case is expected to be an investigative update from Fairfield police as detectives work through witness accounts, video and physical evidence.
Author note: Last updated June 4, 2026.