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Gilroy, California, garlic festival shooting: what we know
Four people were killed at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, including one shooting suspect.
Four people were killed (including the shooter) and at least 12 more injured during a shooting that took place at the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival in Christmas Hill Park in Gilroy, California, on Sunday.
One suspect was shot and killed by police at the scene. CBS reports that the suspect is Santino William Legan, 19. In a statement, city officials in Gilmore — which is located about 33 miles south of San Jose — said that “[w]itnesses indicated there may have been a second suspect and a search is underway for that person,” though it’s unclear if the second possible suspect actually fired shots or assisted the gunman in some other way.
What we know
- The gunman used an assault-style rifle and started firing around 5:41 pm local time. One witness who spoke to a local NBC station said the shooter was wearing Army fatigues and “rose his gun up, and, just, started spraying out rounds.” Another witness told the Washington Post the man was shooting “left to right and right to left.”
Javier Zarracina/Vox
- Police on the scene engaged the shooter within one minute, according to Gilroy Police Chief Scot Smithee, and shot the suspect dead.
- Security at the event was tight and included bag searches and metal detector wands. Smithee said investigators believe the shooter entered the festival by cutting through a perimeter fence.
- Festivalgoers fled in panic, and shots rang out. Videos of the chaotic scene were posted to Twitter.
- One of the victims was a 6-year-old boy named Stephen Romero. NBC reports that the two other victims were a 13-year-old girl and a man in his 20s. Their names have not yet been released.
- A witness who had a brief interaction with the shooter said they asked him, “why are you doing this?” According to the Associated Press, the witness said the shooter replied by saying, “because I’m really angry.”
- Heavy tracked down an Instagram page that reportedly belongs to the shooter. According to Heavy, one post from the Instagram page posted just before the shooting recommends a book that promotes racist and misogynistic principles.
What we don’t know
- The suspect’s motive.
- The identity of the two people other than Romero who were killed in the shooting.
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