Parents often throw the obligatory Sweet 16 Party for their daughters. This is somewhat of an American tradition where the daughter, if she’s lucky, receives the gift of a new car as she is finally eligible for a driver’s license.

Parents are generally apprehensive because they are worried that their little girl now has the power to drive around on  her own. This new-found independence often times scares parents as it signifies the loss of control that they had for the previous 15+ years.

However, nothing could have prepared the parents of a 16-year-old teen for the events that occurred at her sweet 16 party last Saturday in Northern California.

6 people were shot and injured after gunmen opened fired at the girl’s Sweet 16 birthday party thrown by her parents in Antioch, California Saturday, according to an article on Yahoo News.

Police believe that the gunfire stemmed from a disagreement from to separate groups of partygoers. Additionally, the police believe that 3 or 4 gunmen actually opened fire.

Antioch, a suburb less than 40 miles outside of San Francisco is not known to be a particularly violent area and thus this was a rather rare occurrence.

The police reported that gunshots wounded a 23-year-old boy, 2 16-year-old boys, an 18 year-old man, and a 21-year-old woman. The various injuries range from as little as a minor grazing to as severe as a direct abdomen wound.

Police are looking for 3 or 4 male suspects, but have yet to disclose detailed descriptions of the suspects as the investigation has just begun. Guest reports confirm that there were around 70-80 guests at the party nearly all of which fled at the time that the shots were fired.

Hopefully, the shooters will be discovered as soon as possible and will be subsequently punished for their criminal acts. The eventual sentences will probably hinge upon the ages of the shooters and whether a presiding judge decides to try the individuals based as adults or as juveniles.

What do you think?