Gunfire erupts as Rialto students enjoy field trip at a park
Rialto students on a field trip to celebrate the end of the year were forced to take cover after two people shot at each other at a nearby basketball court.
"It's supposed to be a happy day for them, and an exciting day as they end the school year," said spokesperson Natalie Aguirre.
According to the Rialto Police Department, two groups were playing basketball at Alec Fergusson Park near the 2300 block of W. Sunrise Drive as six classes of first and second graders from Edward Fitzgerald Elementary School were nearby on a field trip. The students were there to celebrate the end of the year.
"Because of what happened at Robb Elementary in Texas that's very scary," said grandfather Soltero.
Fortunately, Soltero's granddaughter was not one of the kids on the field trip.
The around 1 p.m. an altercation between the basketball players escalated prompting two of the players to pull out guns and start shooting.
One of the subjects was killed while the other was taken to the hospital and is in critical condition. No students, employees campus security guards or bystanders were wounded.
Police said that campus security guards and teachers took children to tables and other types of concealment when the shooting first started.
When officers and deputies with San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department arrived they were able to escort 79 students back to their school.
"We ensured that 79 students, we counted all of them, were loaded into the buses and taken to the school," said Aguirre.
The children were then released to their parents and guardians.
