01-22) 19:56 PST SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) --
Members of two San Jose State University fraternities settled their differences in a bloody brawl at a suburban park Wednesday, leaving one man dead on his 23rd birthday and several others injured.
Police were called shortly after midnight by residents who reported several dozen young men armed with knives and sticks fighting in Flickinger Park in northeast San Jose, said Sgt. Steve Dixon, a police department spokesman.
"They could hear somebody screaming `Somebody's been stabbed!"' Dixon said.
Four people were stabbed, including the 23-year-old man who later died at a hospital, said Catherine Unger, a police spokeswoman. The dead man was later identified as Alam Kim of Los Altos.
The men were members of San Jose State's Pi Alpha Phi and Lambda Phi Epsilon fraternities. Pi Alpha Phi members from the nearby University of California, Santa Cruz also participated, Unger said.
The fight apparently grew from a disagreement at a pool hall Monday. The exact nature of the dispute was not immediately known, but it escalated to egg throwing and, eventually, the brawl, police said.
"They arrived at an agreement to meet in a park in San Jose to resolve their differences," Dixon said.
The group first gathered at Williams Street Park near downtown San Jose but retreated to suburban Flickinger Park when they spotted police nearby.
"Quite honestly, except for the lack of the tattoos, this is a gang fight," Dixon said. "Instead of gang members, it's frat members."
Several people were taken to hospitals by friends, Unger said. Besides the man who died, three people were treated for stab wounds and one for head trauma.
Dozens of fraternity members and witnesses were being questioned at police headquarters. No arrests were immediately made.
Pi Alpha Phi was established in 1926 at the University of California, Berkeley, by Asian students because existing fraternities discriminated against minorities, according to the group's Web site at San Jose State.
Officials at San Jose State, where the chapter started in 1991, said in a news release they were "greatly saddened by the tragic events." In Santa Cruz, the university is not aware of previous trouble from the group, which was set up in 1995, said Elizabeth Irwin, a campus spokeswoman.
Jack Hsia, president of the Lambda Phi Epsilon national organization, declined to comment on the brawl.
"It's so sad because they're college students. You'd think they'd be above this," said Unger of the San Jose Police Department.
Members of two San Jose State University fraternities settled their differences in a bloody brawl at a suburban park Wednesday, leaving one man dead on his 23rd birthday and several others injured.
Police were called shortly after midnight by residents who reported several dozen young men armed with knives and sticks fighting in Flickinger Park in northeast San Jose, said Sgt. Steve Dixon, a police department spokesman.
"They could hear somebody screaming `Somebody's been stabbed!"' Dixon said.
Four people were stabbed, including the 23-year-old man who later died at a hospital, said Catherine Unger, a police spokeswoman. The dead man was later identified as Alam Kim of Los Altos.
The men were members of San Jose State's Pi Alpha Phi and Lambda Phi Epsilon fraternities. Pi Alpha Phi members from the nearby University of California, Santa Cruz also participated, Unger said.
The fight apparently grew from a disagreement at a pool hall Monday. The exact nature of the dispute was not immediately known, but it escalated to egg throwing and, eventually, the brawl, police said.
"They arrived at an agreement to meet in a park in San Jose to resolve their differences," Dixon said.
The group first gathered at Williams Street Park near downtown San Jose but retreated to suburban Flickinger Park when they spotted police nearby.
"Quite honestly, except for the lack of the tattoos, this is a gang fight," Dixon said. "Instead of gang members, it's frat members."
Several people were taken to hospitals by friends, Unger said. Besides the man who died, three people were treated for stab wounds and one for head trauma.
Dozens of fraternity members and witnesses were being questioned at police headquarters. No arrests were immediately made.
Pi Alpha Phi was established in 1926 at the University of California, Berkeley, by Asian students because existing fraternities discriminated against minorities, according to the group's Web site at San Jose State.
Officials at San Jose State, where the chapter started in 1991, said in a news release they were "greatly saddened by the tragic events." In Santa Cruz, the university is not aware of previous trouble from the group, which was set up in 1995, said Elizabeth Irwin, a campus spokeswoman.
Jack Hsia, president of the Lambda Phi Epsilon national organization, declined to comment on the brawl.
"It's so sad because they're college students. You'd think they'd be above this," said Unger of the San Jose Police Department.
