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Four men accused of a gun battle that occurred in an East Palo Alto park full of children in 2022 are heading to trial after being arraigned last August, according to the San Mateo District Attorney’s Office.
Around 6 p.m. on May 17, 2022 in Jack Farrell Park, located in the 2500 block of Fordham Street, several children were playing in the playground and dozens more were practicing on the baseball field when shots rang out and “chaos ensued,” according to prosecutors.
Parents in the bleachers and park who had been watching their children began to run around to get them to safety as over 30 shots were fired by multiple people.
When the shooting was over, one man was dead — East Palo Alto resident Ralph Fields, who was the cousin of Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams.
Three more people were injured, including one of the defendants.
Police used a cellphone recording from an 8-year-old girl who had been playing tag in the park to build their case, prosecutors said.
One of the four suspects, who is 50, was injured in the shooting and had a court appearance Friday. His case, and the cases of two other suspects, who are 21 and 20, are set for a March 1 jury trial. The fourth suspect, who is 20, has not yet been arraigned.
All four men are in jail pending trial on a no-bail status.