A 16-year-old California boy who took a bullet during the Spirit Halloween store mass shooting says the moment felt unreal, like something out of a film.
The teen, whose name has not been released, was among six survivors when gunfire erupted inside the Fairfield Spirit Halloween at Solano Town Center on October 30. He spoke with KRON 4 about the experience, describing how his focus narrowed to his own trembling hand after the shot struck him.
“I felt the bullet wound; it was like a movie, ’cause I look at it and everything just zoomed into my hand and my hands just shaking,” he recalled in the interview.
“Then I just start laying on my back Jesus, Jesus, Jesus… I got real scared,” he continued.
The boy told the station that a man came to his side and urged him to keep praying, offering comfort amid the chaos.
Even as he lay bleeding, the teen’s concern turned to a pregnant woman nearby. When police and paramedics arrived, he repeatedly directed them toward her, asking, “Is she breathing… forget about me… go check on her.”
That woman was Constance Hages, a 31-year-old mother of four who was 13 weeks pregnant. She did not survive. Because her pregnancy had progressed beyond the embryonic stage, prosecutors are pursuing an additional murder charge for her unborn child.
The teen’s mother also spoke out, extending forgiveness toward the alleged shooter. “I forgive him of his actions because his village failed him,” she said.
Authorities have arrested Monte Smith, 17, in connection with the attack. The Solano County District Attorney’s Office is charging him with eight felony offenses plus multiple gun enhancements. Smith is being held at a juvenile detention center while prosecutors push to have him tried as an adult.
Smith had been previously arrested in connection with a 2025 shooting at a local high school parking lot, according to the district attorney’s office.
Hages’s niece launched a GoFundMe to support the family, which has raised nearly $11,000 toward its $12,000 goal.
The shooting unfolded on October 30 inside the seasonal costume store at Solano Town Center in Fairfield, a city of about 120,000 between San Francisco and Sacramento. The mall was crowded with Halloween shoppers when the gunfire began, sending customers scrambling for cover. Six people survived their injuries, while Hages and her unborn child became the fatalities that now form the basis for multiple murder charges against the teenage suspect.
Smith remains at the juvenile detention center as prosecutors continue their effort to transfer his case to adult court.