Gilroy, California - California police were
searching on Monday for a suspected accomplice of the gunman who
killed three people, including a 6-year-old boy, in a mass
shooting at a food festival south of San Francisco.
The gunman was shot dead by police officers within minutes
of opening fire early on Sunday evening at the three-day Gilroy
Garlic Festival, about 30 miles (48 km) southeast of the city of
San Jose.
He was identified as Santino William Legan, 19, according to
CBS News and NBC News, both citing unnamed law enforcement
officials. The Gilroy police department declined to confirm the
reports but planned to hold a news briefing later on Monday
morning.
Among those killed was a 6-year-old boy, according to news
reports. Fifteen people were injured, but it was unclear how
many were shot or otherwise hurt in the crush of bystanders
trying to flee, according to police. One person was in critical
condition, a hospital spokeswoman said.
President Donald Trump described the gunman as a "wicked
murderer" and asked people to pray for the victims during an
event at the White House.
"We grieve for their families, and we ask that God will
comfort them with his overflowing mercy and grace," he said.
A second suspect "was involved in some way, we just don't
know in what way," Gilroy Police Chief Scot Smithee said late on
Sunday, without giving further details.
Emergency vehicles head towards the Gilroy Garlic Festival following a shooting in California. Picture: Nhat V. Meyer/San Jose Mercury News via AP"We have no idea of a motive," he said.
Police recovered a rifle at the scene, Smithee said.
The gunman cut through a fence to evade metal detectors and
other security at the festival entrance, police said.
Legan, the teenager identified in news reports as the
gunman, appeared to post a photograph from the festival on his
Instagram account shortly before the shooting accompanied by
disgruntled captions. The account only appeared to be a few days
old, and was deactivated at some point on Monday morning.
"Ayyy garlic festival time," he wrote in the caption to the
picture of people walking through the festival grounds. "Come
get wasted on overpriced shit."
Emergency personnel stand outside Gilroy High School following a deadly shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in California. Picture: Nhat V. Meyer/San Jose Mercury News via AP
Another photograph posted on Sunday showed a sign warning of
a high danger of forest fires. Its caption urged people to read
"Might is Right," a racist and sexist treatise written by the
pseudonymous author Ragnar Redbeard in the late 19th century.
"Why overcrowd towns and pave more open space to make room for
hordes of mestizos and Silicon Valley white twats?" the caption
continued.
Footage uploaded to social media showed festival attendees
scattering in fear and confusion as loud popping sounds could be
heard in the background.
"What's going on?" a woman can be heard asking on one video.
"Who'd shoot up a garlic festival?"
'THROWING TABLES' TO GET OUT
One of the victims was identified by his grandmother as
Stephen Romero in an interview with ABC7 News. Maribel Romero
described her 6-year-old grandson as "a really loving boy."
Her daughter-in-law and the boy's other grandmother were
also being treated in a hospital for gunshot wounds, she said.
"I want justice for my grandson," she said.
Evenny Reyes, 13, told the San Jose Mercury News that at
first she thought the gunfire was fireworks but then saw someone
with a wounded leg.
Ana Lilia Cano, left, with daughter Paulina Perez, and Gildardo Leyva, right, wait for relatives at a reunification centre at Gavilan College following a shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in California. Picture: Josie Lepe/AP
"We were just leaving and we saw a guy with a bandana
wrapped around his leg because he got shot," Reyes told the
newspaper. "There was a little kid hurt on the ground. People
were throwing tables and cutting fences to get out."
Maximo Rocha, a volunteer with the Gilroy Browns youth
football team, said he saw many people on the ground, but could
not be sure how many were shot.
He told NBC Bay Area that "quite a few" were injured,
"because I helped a few."
One video posted on Twitter showed a blood-spattered woman
sitting in the back of a semi-trailer and telling a man she had
been shot in the hand.
Founded in 1979, the Gilroy Garlic Festival is an annual
event run by volunteers and held outdoors at Christmas Hill
Park.
Weapons of any kind are prohibited, according to the event's
website, which also said anyone wearing clothing or
paraphernalia indicating membership in a gang, including a
motorcycle club, would be refused entry.
"I want to express my extreme shock and sadness about what's
happened today," Gilroy Mayor Roland Velasco said at a late
night news conference. "I would ask for the thoughts and prayers
of the community as our Gilroy police officers continue to
investigate this tragic and senseless crime."