Texas-based nonprofit claims Stockton gang cease-fire after deadly shooting
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Youth Peace and Justice Foundation claims short-term cease-fire after Nov. 29 Stockton shooting.
- Foundation demands Stockton leaders formalize institutional support by Jan. 15 deadline.
- City officials have not confirmed engagement; public records and filings on the nonprofit are scarce.
A little-known Texas nonprofit announced late Friday night that it had secured a short-term cease-fire among gangs in Stockton in the wake of a Nov. 29 mass shooting at a 2-year-old’s birthday party that left four people dead.
The Youth Peace and Justice Foundation said the move was intended to prevent any retaliatory acts, even though police have not confirmed the tragedy as linked to gang violence.
The foundation, formed in the wake of the May 24, 2022, school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that killed 19 students and two teachers, said it began negotiations at 9 p.m. Friday with “principal driver groups” — a term used in violence prevention efforts to describe the small number of people responsible for a disproportionate share of serious violence.
“The ball is no longer in our court,” said the foundation news release, sent just before 11:30 p.m. “It is squarely in the city’s. We secured the ceasefire, but we are now in a ‘wait and see’ period. If Stockton’s political leadership fails to match the moral courage of these drivers with institutional commitment by Jan. 15, they will bear the moral responsibility for any violence that resumes.”
The foundation did not define “institutional commitment” in its news release, and a spokesperson said leaders would not take questions until a Monday videoconference call.
The Stockton Police Department has not publicly linked the November mass shooting to gang violence, and in Friday’s news release, the Youth Peace and Justice Foundation said attendees at its cease-fire negotiation said “the attack, in fact, was not sanctioned by anyone present and violated internal codes of all groups” in attendance.
The foundation’s announcement comes in a city that has already drawn national attention for its use of focused deterrence, also known as group violence intervention, through the long-running Stockton Ceasefire program.
The approach targets individuals at the highest risk of committing violence or becoming victims of it, offering help such as employment, education or counseling if they step away from violence but warning that further shootings will meet with swift and certain law enforcement consequences.
The strategy has shown measurable results in Stockton despite challenges sustaining the program amid budget constraints, leadership changes and pandemic disruptions, according to a study by criminologist Anthony Braga of the University of Pennsylvania and four colleagues.
Published last year, the study found that gang members who were directly contacted by the intervention were significantly less likely to be shot and committed fewer violent crimes than comparable gang members who were not contacted.
To be sure, Stockton’s violent crime rate has remained well above state and national averages, and researchers cautioned that continued success of focused deterrence programs depends upon a robust network of partnering agencies, clear accountability and sustained problem analysis, all elements that require coordination and political buy-in over time.
Foundation founder Daniel Chapin said his group came to Stockton because of what he described as the city’s “silence” after the shooting. He set a Jan. 15 deadline for a “GVI status conference” at which it wants city leaders to outline a plan to turn the truce into a sustained partnership.
Tony Mannor, a spokesperson for the city of Stockton, said Saturday that the city manager had not received any invitation through his office. The Sacramento Bee did not receive a response to emails sent to Mayor Christina Fugazi; Lora Larson, director of the Office of Violence Prevention or the Stockton Police Department.
The foundation said its efforts to broker a truce have been rebuffed or ignored by Larson and other city and law enforcement officials. The news release noted that the foundation would begin sharing its truce-monitoring methodology and progress reports with the Stockton Police Department’s crime analysis unit and the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office.
Public information about the Youth Peace and Justice Foundation is limited beyond the organization’s website. Online IRS records show the nonprofit is also known as the Uvalde Foundation for Kids and that it is based in Temple, Texas. The foundation was granted tax-exempt status in July 2022 and was not required to submit IRS Form 990 tax filings from tax years 2022 through 2024 because its annual gross receipts were below $50,000.
This story was originally published December 13, 2025 at 3:18 PM.
