ANTIOCH — An online fundraiser seeking $30,000 to cover the funeral and other expenses for an 18-year-old woman killed at a birthday party shooting that also wounded six others went past the halfway mark to its goal Tuesday.
Nadia Tirado, of Antioch, was hit in the hail of gunfire that broke out about 1 a.m. Sunday in or near a residence on Sunset Lane near Mountaire Park. According to police, uninvited guests arrived at the party, something sparked a conflict and bullets flew.
Tirado died after being rushed to a hospital. The fundraiser reached about $16,400 early Tuesday. It said Tirado was hit in the lower abdomen.
Her death is the fourth homicide investigated by Antioch police this year.
“Like many others, we are extremely heartbroken and devastated,” fundraiser organizers Melina Alvarez and Sandra Rangel wrote in the page’s entry. “With the help of friends and family, we would love to honor her and say our final goodbyes.”
Police have not made any arrests in the shooting or publicly identified any suspects. They said the shots created a scene of chaos, with gunshot victims and other partygoers fleeing on foot and in cars in all directions.
Some of the other shooting victims drove themselves to a hospital.
“I am imploring the public, the citizens of Antioch who may have information about this — I’m begging, not asking, begging that they come forward so we can help the family get justice,” Antioch police Chief Steve Ford said by phone Tuesday afternoon.
Two 20-year-old women and a 20-year-old man; two 19-year-old women; and an 18-year-old man all were hit by the gunfire. Their injuries were not considered life-threatening, police said.
“Somebody knows something. That’s a fact,” Ford said. “The way the party was configured, everybody was in close quarters, they were packed in tight. There were about 60 people there when all of this broke out, so somebody knows something. I’m begging and imploring that somebody come forward with what they know. It doesn’t have to be a huge nugget of information. It can be innocuous. Innocuous information can turn into a lead.”
Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe on Monday used the shooting to reiterate his call for the chief to fire officers involved the department’s racist text messaging scandal. In all, 44 officers — or about half the police force —are named in two reports by a district attorney’s inspector as sending or receiving offensive texts. With the majority of the officers on leave, the scandal has left the department down about half its policing staff and has resulted in the dismissal of charges and a major payment from the county to help assess the size of the problem.
Ford said the staffing issues the department faces had “nothing to do with anything” regarding the party shooting.
“There is no correlation between the current (text-message) investigation, the horrific situation of this past weekend and our ability to hire and recruit new officers,” Ford said. “There is no relation to any of those three things, so I’m not sure where (the mayor’s comments) are coming from.”
Ford said the department has been “recruiting and hiring at a record-setting pace” and that there was “no correlation” between the status of the officers on leave “and our ability to hire.”
Messages left with the Antioch Police Officers Association were not returned Tuesday.
The party was held for a 19-year-old man, according to police.
“Nadia was only 18 years old and full of (life),” the fundraiser entry read. “She was an amazing daughter, sister, friend, etc. She was known for lighting up a room and putting a smile on everyone’s face. Everyone loved her, and she loved everyone. She was the most forgiving person we knew. She will be missed by many and will never be forgotten.”