A gunman opened fire on the Gilroy Garlic Festival in Gilroy, CA, on Sunday evening. He killed three people, including a 6-year-old boy, and injured 12 others.
Sources told local media that a second suspect remains on the run, but no one has said anything about this person’s role in the shooting.
***I will update this post as authorities release more information.
The shooting began around 5:41 PM. From CBS SF Bay Area:
ATF agents, officers from the San Jose Police Department, the California Highway Patrol and the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department responded to the scene. The Santa Clara County Coroner was called to the scene as well.During a press conference Sunday evening, police confirmed that four were dead in total, including one suspected gunman, and 15 were injured.Gilroy Police Chief Scot Smithee said the suspect gained entry into the festival by cutting a fence to circumvent security.
The shooting happened while the band Tin Man performed on stage. Singer Jack van Breen told the media “he saw a man wearing a green shirt and grayish handkerchief around his neck fire into the food area with what looked like an assault rifle.” The band dove under the stage to take cover.
Authorities have not identified the gunman or the second suspect. They also did not release descriptions of the second suspect.
They also have no motive why the man shot up the popular three-day food festival.
Taylor Pellegrini, 25, told The Los Angeles Times she found the security weak at the festival. Security checked her bags, but not her friend’s bag.
Vivian Zhang, 24, credited the volunteers after the shooting started:
A truck they were standing next to was struck four times; bullets ricocheted off the ground.That’s when they began running as fast as they could.“They started putting all of us on the parking shuttles,” said Zhang, an Oakland resident. “To their credit, the volunteers running it were very responsive. They weren’t panicking.”
Evenny Reyes described the chaos as people ran for the exits as others threw tables and cut through fences to get out. One man wrapped a bandana around his leg. He saw people crying and heard others screaming.
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