Gilroy Garlic Festival Shooting: Boy, 6, And Girl, 13, Are Among Dead In California

Updated at 2 p.m. ET
At least three people were killed and 15 others injured when a man opened fire Sunday at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in Northern California, Gilroy Police Chief Scot Smithee says. The shooter also died.

Police have identified the gunman as Santino William Legan, 19, Smithee announced at a news briefing on Monday about the attack.

Listing those who lost their lives, Smithee said the victims were a six-year-old boy, a 13-year-old female, and a male in his 20s. He said the gunman had used an SKS "AK-47 style" rifle that had been legally purchased in Las Vegas on July 9. Smithee later added that Legan was a Gilroy native who seems to have family in Nevada.

"Mass gun violence is an epidemic in the United States," Gilroy Mayor Roland Velasco said on Monday. "And yet one never imagines such a thing can happen here, in our beautiful community."

The gunfire began on the north side of the festival grounds at around 5:41 p.m. local time on the third and final day of the annual garlic celebration that the town of Gilroy, some 80 miles south of San Francisco, has hosted for decades.

Videos posted to Twitter showed festivalgoers scattering while fleeing gunfire at Christmas Hill Park.

Police officers who were in the same area rushed to engage the suspect in less than a minute, Smithee said, adding that the gunfire seemed to be "somewhat random, as he moved out into the festival area."

When the suspect saw the officers, he shot at them, Smithee said. And despite being armed only with handguns, the three officers were quickly able to take him down, the chief added.

Police do not currently have a motive for the deadly attack.

Discussing the search for a possible motive for the attack, Deputy Special Agent in Charge Craig Fair of the FBI's office in San Francisco said the agency's "principal concern at this point is motivation, ideological leanings."

Among the questions the FBI is working to answer, Fair said, is whether Legan was affiliated with any other criminals or groups that embrace violence.

Fair also said the crime scene is even larger than investigators first believed, saying it is "many, many many acres." He added that the FBI currently has a team of 30 combing through that area, searching for evidence from the crime.

Smithee confirmed late Sunday that a hunt for a possible second suspect was underway. However, he said that while police believe another person was somehow involved base on witness accounts, "we just don't know in what way."

Officials have not released the names of those who were shot. But a man who rushed to the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center to check on his family Sunday night told reporters that his son was killed at the festival.

Six-year-old Stephen Romero died after being shot in the back, his father, Alberto Romero, told San Jose newspaper the Mercury News.

"He was joyful, always wanted to play, always positive," Romero said of his son, who was to start first grade at the end of the summer.

Stephen Romero had been at the festival with his mother and grandmother; both of them were also shot and were being treated at the hospital, Alberto Romero told the Mercury News.

"This morning our prayers are with the families of those injured and killed in this senseless shooting," Velasco said.

Describing how the gunman managed to get a rifle into the festival, Smithee said it appears that "they used some sort of a tool to cut through the fence" near a creek that borders a parking area.

The shooting started while the band Tin Man was onstage, leading to some confusion over the sudden sound of gunfire.

Francisco Cruz was at the festival with about 20 relatives — some of whom were in town to attend a wedding. He told NPR member station KQED that he was near the stage when he heard a gunshot.

"I saw this guy dressed up," Cruz told KQED. "I thought he was a sheriff because he was wearing a brown vest with the green pants and the hat."

At first, Cruz said, he thought the "sheriff" might have fired his weapon accidentally.

"But then when I saw him picking up the gun and reloading the gun that's when I knew what it was," he said. "We were all in danger."

Cruz raced to get his kids to safety. When the scary situation was finally resolved, he realized his cousin had been shot. She was taken to the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center.

Some of Cruz's relatives had been visiting from Mexico when they encountered what he called "a nightmare" on Sunday. As Cruz tells KQED, "You know, I just wanted to show them the beautiful side of California."

The mayor commended police officers who acted quickly and professionally "to engage the shooter and to end the threat before more people could be injured or killed." Their actions had saved many lives, he said.

"It takes remarkable bravery to run to a shooting," Velasco added.

On Monday morning, Christmas Hill Park, where the shooting occurred, remained an active crime scene, with dozens of law enforcement officials from two counties working on the case. During the night, police posted information for people who were at the festival — helping people reunite with loved ones while also seeking witnesses to the crime.

Nearly two dozen people were sent to area trauma centers for gunshot wounds and other injuries, according to Joy Alexiou, public information officer for the Santa Clara County Health & Hospital System. She said some patients were transported by airlift.

Gilroy bills itself as the "Garlic Capital of the World." The annual three-day celebration featuring food and music normally attracts between 80,000 and 100,000 people, city officials said.

"Pocketknives and weapons of any kind" are prohibited at the park, according to the festival's website.

"Gilroy is an amazing, tightly-knit community," said Brian Bowe, the festival's executive director, said at a news conference late Sunday night.

"We are family. We have had the wonderful opportunity in this community to celebrate our family through our Garlic Festival, and for over four decades that festival has been our annual family reunion," Bowe said. He called the shooting "such a sad, just horribly upsetting circumstance."

"This is nothing short of horrific," California Gov. Gavin Newsom tweeted Sunday. "Tonight, CA stands with the Gilroy community. My office is monitoring the situation closely. Grateful for the law enforcement's efforts and their continued work as this situation develops."

President Trump also responded to reports of the shooting on Sunday. "Law Enforcement is at the scene of shootings in Gilroy, California. Reports are that shooter has not yet been apprehended. Be careful and safe!" he tweeted.

This is a developing story. Some things that get reported by the media will later turn out to be wrong. We will focus on reports from police officials and other authorities, credible news outlets and reporters who are at the scene. We will update as the situation develops.

NPR's Bobby Allyn contributed to this report.

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