Police seek information in East Palo Alto shootout

One person was killed and three others were injured in a shooting involving multiple people at an East Palo Alto park bustling with children and families on Tuesday evening, authorities said. Police are asking witnesses to come forward with any information and footage to aid in their investigation.

The shooting occurred at about 6 p.m. at Jack Farrell Park and killed an East Palo Alto resident, according to a statement released Wednesday by East Palo Alto interim Police Chief Jeff Liu. Investigators found 33 rounds of shell casings at the park, which was occupied with dozens of visitors when shots were fired between two pairs of people — four in total, police officials said Wednesday evening.

“These people decided to shoot at each other, 33 rounds between them, with all these kids playing in the park, playing basketball,” Liu said. “This is a place for families to go and have good quality outdoor time together in a safe place. A place where they can play and be carefree — not some place where they need to worry about getting shot by people shooting at each other.”

Police identified the dead man as Ralph Fields Jr., whom they described as the cousin of Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams.

One person sustained a graze wound to his head and declined medical attention, and two others sustained non-life threatening wounds, police said. The latter two victims took themselves to a local fire station in town for medical treatment, where they were subsequently taken to a local hospital, Sanchez said.

Police have not identified any suspects as of Wednesday evening. Investigators are still working to determine who opened fire at the park, Liu said.

East Palo Alto Mayor Ruben Abrica said there were between 40 and 60 people at the park when the shooting occurred, adding that authorities and city officials are urging witnesses to come forward with information about what unfolded, including any photographs and video. Liu said that police “don’t have anywhere near that many witnesses so we need people to tell us what they saw, what they heard, everything.”

Liu pointed to a cell phone video that has circulated on social media showing what he said was a young child running for their life while a flurry of shots could be heard in very close proximity to where children were playing on a playground.

“That is so not acceptable, and we cannot stand for that,” Liu said, describing the video as “absolutely heartbreaking.” Liu said that the community must “take a stand against this type of violence, especially in our parks.”

Jack Farrell Park has been one of the more active local parks as of late, Abrica said, pointing to a baseball and softball field, playground, grassy areas and recently installed exercise area that have been actively frequented by residents.

“We want to appeal to the community to come forth with any information they have ... because there’s definitely witnesses,” Abrica said. “In the past when we’ve had these incidents — it’s been quite a while — the only way we’ve been able to overcome them is to really work together: the police, city government, the community and community leaders to get to the bottom of it.”

Officials have scheduled a special City Council meeting to provide information about the shooting to the community and “to provide an opportunity for the community to come together” for 6 p.m. Thursday, Liu wrote.

Police officials are also expected to provide an update on the investigation into the shooting, and community leaders and faith leaders will be available for support as well, Abrica said.

Anyone with information about this incident can call acting Commander Angel Sanchez at 650-853-3154. Those who witnessed the shooting can contact the Police Department by emailing epa@tipnow.org, sending a text to 650409-6792, or leaving an anonymous voicemail at 650-409-6792.