By: George Kelly

EAST PALO ALTO — In this city’s first public homicides in more than two years, two people were killed and two others critically injured in a shooting outside a private Halloween party, authorities said.

Police are seeking a suspect who fled the scene.

In a statement, police said they responded just before 2:45 a.m. Sunday to reports of a ShotSpotter activation in the 2500 block of Pulgas Avenue in the city’s Ravenswood neighborhood just north of Bay Road.

Officers arrived in less than two minutes, and found four people suffering from gunshot wounds. Two of the four were pronounced dead at the scene. Police named one victim, Eduardo Sandoval, 22, of Stockton. The San Mateo County Coroner’s Office on Tuesday identified the second victim as Mario Vidales Mendez, 23, of Redwood City.

Menlo Park Fire Protection District fire and AMR ambulance crews also responded to the scene, taking two other victims suffering from life-threatening injuries to an area hospital. No update on their conditions was immediately available Sunday evening.

Police said they believe the shooting happened after a dispute erupted into physical confrontation outside a privately held adult Halloween party outside the rear of a business complex.

The deaths are the city’s first public homicides since June 10, 2016, police said. A December 2017 murder-suicide inside a Tuscany Court home was not listed as public by police.

Anyone with information should call East Palo Alto police Detective. Lydia Cardoza at 650-853-7249, send an anonymous e-mail to epa@tipnow.org or an anonymous text or voicemail to 650-409-6792.

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