Mom Mourns Daughter, 8, Killed in Birthday Party Mass Shooting, Saying She ‘Should Have Had a Long Life’

The fourth victim of last Saturday night’s mass shooting moments before the cake was cut at a 2-year-old’s birthday party has been identified as 8-year-old Journey Rose Reotutar Guerrero.

Journey’s mother Jacqueline Reotutar announced her daughter’s death on Wednesday in a GoFundMe post that painted a picture of her daughter, who she and other family members remembered as a “kind and helpful” third grader who had “many friends” and “loved school.”

“She was a curious and gentle soul who touched many hearts,” Journey’s family wrote. “Journey loved art, crafting, baking, and gymnastics.”

Journey’s mother said her daughter “was always an inspiration for her family to do their best.” A gymnast loved trivia and math and longed to someday be a cheerleader, she hoped to follow in her sister’s footsteps and become a doctor, the grieving mother wrote.

“She wanted to help people,” reads the GoFundMe post.

Reotutar, who is also a teacher in the Stockton Unified School District, according to the local Stockton Record, said her daughter had an 18-year-old sister and two brothers, aged 10 and 15.

“We all wish we could continue those fun times together [and] being able to see Journey grow and become the beautiful woman she was destined to be,” the mother wrote.

Journey was among four people, including three children, who were killed during the Nov. 29 shooting, which took place while around 100 people were gathered at a local banquet hall in Stockton, Calif., to celebrate a 2-year-old girl’s birthday party. 

The shooting left two 8-year-olds and a 14-year-old dead, PEOPLE previously reported. A 21-year-old man was also killed.

Family members told the Associated Press on Monday that partygoers were getting ready to cut the young girl’s birthday cake when gunshots first rang out. “I actually thought it was my balloons popping. It was gunshots,” Patrice Williams, the birthday girl’s mother, told the AP.

Local police have yet to track down a suspect and have indicated in news releases that multiple shooters may have been involved.

PEOPLE has reached out to the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office for the latest information about the investigation and potential suspects.

Local ABC10 reported that the ATF and the FBI have also been assisting local authorities with the investigation.

“Finding the person or persons who committed this crime is the number one priority,” San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Heather Brent said at a press conference on Sunday, according to the outlet. “Right now, we ask this community, don’t let this divide you. Make it something that brings you together, come together as a community and let’s help each other.”

Stockton Mayor Christina Fugazi said in an Instagram post on Sunday that she “could not sleep” after hearing the news the previous night.

“I lay there in disbelief about what these families, these children, and our entire community went through,” the mayor wrote. “The trauma they are living with is unimaginable.”