California shooting kills 3, injures 15
SACRAMENTO, California — A gunman killed at least three people and wounded about 15 at a California food festival on Sunday before being shot dead by police, and police were hunting for a second person they believed was involved in the killing.
Gilroy Police Chief Scot Smithee said the gunman was armed with a rifle and sneaked in through a fence that borders a parking lot next to a creek. He appeared to randomly target people when he opened fire just after 5:30 pm on Sunday, the conclusion of the three-day festival that attracts more than 100,000 people to the city known as the Garlic Capital of the World.
Police responded within a minute, engaged the suspect and killed him, Smithee said.
A second person, “was involved in some way, we just don’t know in what way”, Smithee said on Sunday.
“We have no idea of a motive,” he added.
Smithee called the scene at the festival a “nightmare you hope you never have to live”.
A 6-year-old boy was one among those killed, his father said. “My son had his whole life to live and he was only 6,” the father of Stephen Romero said. “That’s all I can say.”
The wounded were taken to multiple hospitals, and their conditions ranged from fair to critical, with some in surgery Sunday night. At least five were treated and released.
In a tweet, California Governor Gavin Newsom called the bloodshed “nothing short of horrific” and expressed appreciation for the police response. US President Donald Trump tweeted before authorities confirmed the gunman was dead and urged people to “be careful and safe!”
The Gilroy Garlic Festival features food, cooking contests and music. It’s a decades-old staple in the agricultural city of 50,000 about 176 kilometers southeast of San Francisco, and normally a sea of tranquility for families. Security is tight: Festivalgoers pass through metal detectors and their bags are searched.
On Sunday, the band TinMan was starting an encore with the song We’re an American Band when the shooting started.
Singer Jack van Breen said 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. Van Breen and other members of the band dove under the stage.
Their audience began screaming and running, and the five members of TinMan and others dove under the stage.
Van Breen’s bandmate, Vlad Malinovsky of Walnut Creek, California, said he heard a lot of shots and then it stopped. Later, police officers came by and told the band members and others hiding with them to come out.