Two people were killed in separate shootings at Spirit Halloween stores on Oct. 30, the day before Halloween, in Fairfield, California, and Madison Heights, Michigan. Both suspects are in custody and now face murder charges.
The Fairfield Shooting at Solano Town Center
At about 8:30 p.m., the suspect walked into the Spirit Halloween store inside Solano Town Center in Fairfield, saw another customer who investigators believe was his intended target, and fired multiple rounds, Fairfield police said. The gunfire struck that customer and six other people in the store.
Constance Hages, 31, died at the scene. Her family told detectives she was pregnant. Police identified the six people wounded as a 16-year-old, two 19-year-olds, a 23-year-old, a 32-year-old and a 43-year-old, all male. In the department’s update the next day, four were in critical condition and two had been treated and released from the hospital.
Fairfield police arrested a 17-year-old at a home in Suisun City on Monday, Nov. 2, and have not released his name because he is a juvenile. A Fairfield police school resource officer recognized him on the store’s surveillance video as a former student within hours of the first 911 call, police said. According to police, he had been arrested in a separate 2025 shooting in the parking lot of a local high school, was sentenced in that case and had since been released.
The Solano County District Attorney’s Office charged him with two counts of murder, one for Hages and one for her unborn child, along with three counts of attempted murder, three counts of assault with a semiautomatic weapon and firearm enhancements, CBS News Sacramento, KQED and KCRA reported. The office has also petitioned to transfer the case from juvenile court to adult criminal court so he can be tried as an adult. Under California law, a judge must decide whether the case qualifies for that transfer.
He appeared in Solano County Juvenile Court on Nov. 4, where his arraignment was postponed to Nov. 13 and a judge ordered him to remain in juvenile detention, KCRA reported.
The Madison Heights Shooting on John R Road
Madison Heights police were called at about 2 p.m. to the Spirit Halloween at 32065 John R Road for a shooting. Police identified the man killed as Anthony Thompson, 21, of Detroit, and the man charged as John Lashawn Benson, 21, of Oak Park, Michigan.
Investigators believe the two men knew each other, and police said evidence shows a brief encounter between them near the store’s main entrance before Benson produced a handgun and opened fire on Thompson, with several bystanders nearby. Officers found Thompson inside the store with multiple gunshot wounds. He was taken to Corewell Health Hospital in Royal Oak in critical condition and later died. No bystanders were injured, police said. Benson remained at the scene and was taken into custody.
After reviewing the case, the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office authorized two charges against Benson:
- Premeditated first-degree murder, which carries life without parole.
- Felony firearm, which carries two years in prison, served before and consecutively with any other prison term.
Benson was arraigned Nov. 2 in the 43rd District Court in Madison Heights and denied bond. “Our office intends to vigorously prosecute this defendant,” Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said, WXYZ reported.
“As with all criminal matters, all individuals are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law,” the Madison Heights Police Department said in its Nov. 2 release.
Spirit Halloween’s Response and the Two Stores
Spirit Halloween has not commented publicly on either shooting. The Madison Heights store temporarily closed after the shooting, and signs on its front doors directed customers to Spirit’s Sterling Heights location on Van Dyke Avenue, WDIV reported. At the Fairfield store, the Spirit Halloween sign had been removed by Nov. 2, and a small memorial for Hages stood outside, ABC7 reported. Solano Town Center stayed open on Halloween but canceled its trick-or-treating event that day, the Associated Press reported.
Next Court Dates: Nov. 13 in Fairfield, Nov. 18 in Madison Heights
The 17-year-old is due back in Solano County Juvenile Court on Nov. 13 at 9 a.m. The court did not decide on moving his case to adult court at the Nov. 4 appearance, and Chief Deputy District Attorney Bruce Flynn, who is prosecuting the case, said that decision could take several weeks, KCRA reported. Benson is scheduled to appear for his next court proceeding on Nov. 18.
Fairfield police ask anyone with information to call 707-428-7600. Madison Heights police ask anyone who saw the shooting, or has video of it, to contact Detective Sergeant Kari Randolph at (248) 837-2737.
