Gun battle kills man as children on school trip flee park, California police say

Six classes of children on a school trip to a Rialto park dove for cover as a gunfight broke out on a basketball court, leaving one man dead, California police reported.

Another man has been hospitalized in critical condition following the gun battle at Fergusson Park on Wednesday, June 1, Rialto police said in a news release.

None of the 79 children or teachers visiting the park for an end-of-year trip from nearby Edward Fitzgerald Elementary School were injured, police said.

“I heard the gunshots and saw someone fall to the ground,” second-grader Dahlia Welch told KNBC. “I hid under a table.”

A dispute between men playing basketball sparked the gunfire just before 1 p.m., police said. The men had no connection to the school trip.

Teachers and school security officers sheltered the children under tables and other barriers when the shooting broke out, police said.

Police and San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies escorted the kids back to school, where they were picked up by their families, the release said.

Police ask that anyone with information call Lt. James Mills at 909-820-2632.

Rialto is a city of 104,000 people west of San Bernardino in Southern California.

This story was originally published June 2, 2022 at 10:00 AM with the headline "Gun battle kills man as children on school trip flee park, California police say."