(KRON) — Four men who allegedly waged a gun battle in front of terrified children in an East Palo Alto park were indicted by a San Mateo County grand jury this week.
Dozens of children were playing in Jack Farrell Park on May 17, 2022 when gunfire erupted and 33 shots were fired, Police Chief Jeff Liu said. Children ran for their lives and screamed for their parents.
Five adults were shot and one man, 34-year-old Ralph Fields Jr., died. Fields is a cousin of Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams.
The identities of the suspected shooters were released for the first time on Wednesday. The grand jury indicted Miguel Bracamontes, 21, of East Palo Alto; Bobby Williams, 49, of San Francisco; Luis Mariscal, 38, of East Palo Alto; and Michael Tyrone Darrell McNack, 20, of Union City, for numerous charges. Charges include assault with a firearm, as well as discharge of a firearm with gross negligence.
The East Palo Alto Police Department wrote, “Witness statements obtained through investigations, Grand Jury proceedings, and forensic evidence identified Bracamontes, Williams, Mariscal, and McNack as the four suspects who discharged firearms at Jack Farrell Park. The gun fight resulted in the death of Ralph Fields, shooting injuries to four adult males, and numerous children traumatized by being forced to experience the gunfight in a public park while the children were playing.”
When the indictment was filed on August 4, three of the four men were already in jail for separate charges. The U.S. Marshals Service arrested the remaining suspect, McNack, at his home in Union City on Tuesday. McNack was booked into the San Mateo County Jail.
On the day of the park shooting, one girl was recording cellphone video of herself playing a game of tag. With the video still rolling and gunshots ringing out in the background, the girl ran across a softball field, shouting, “Help me!”
EPAPD said its officers and detectives went on a year-long mission “to hold every gunman accountable for their decision to fire guns in a park full of kids.”
None of the four men are facing murder charges for Fields’ death. District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe told KRON4 Wednesday, “The evidence we have of what occurred on that day in Jack Farrell Park does not provide us with sufficient evidence to show who killed him. It was indeed a chaotic scene.”
Mariscal has a lengthy criminal history in San Mateo County, including participating in a criminal street gang and drug dealing, the indictment states.
Bracamontes, Williams, Mariscal, and McNack were scheduled to appear in a Redwood City courtroom Wednesday for arraignment. They are all currently in custody with no bail.
