A gunman killed at least three and injured 12 others at a food festival in
California on Sunday before being shot dead by police. The
shooting happened at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, a three-day celebration featuring food, cooking competitions and
music that attracts more than 100,000 people.
police Chief Scot Smithee said a suspect opened
fire and police officers in the area confronted the suspect in less than a minute. He said that suspect was shot and killed. "He had some sort of a rifle," he said, adding they were investigating the possibility there was a second shooter. It is believed that the shooter cut through the fence to gain access to the festival. Gilroy Councilman Dion Bracco earlier told The Associated Press that the gunman had killed three people and at least 12 others injured.
BREAKING UPDATE: Ambulance crews were told 11 people down in a reported shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival. https://t.co/ufzR4VllULpic.twitter.com/giApm5t2bX— Stephen Ellison (@sj_ellison) July 29, 2019 Witnesses reported confusion and panic as shots rang out at the event in the city of 50,000 located about 80 miles southeast of San Francisco. Videos posted on social media appeared to show festival attendees scattering in confusion as at least one loud popping sound 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?" Herman Solis, of Hollister, said he and his girlfriend dropped to the ground when he heard shots fired. “You could hear the bullets whizzing by,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle. “It was unreal. We ran and ducked for cover. It was chaos. At first I thought it was fireworks. Then I realised it wasn’t.” The band Tin Man was just starting an encore when shots rang out.
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. Van Breen says he heard someone shout: "Why are you doing this? "and the reply: "because I'm really angry. " People leave the Gilroy Garlic Festival following a deadly shooting in Gilroy Credit: AP His bandmate Vlad Malinovsky from Walnut Creek, California, said he heard a lot of shots and then it stopped. Later, law enforcement came by and told the band members and others hiding with them to come out with their hands up. A witness named Julissa Contreras told
NBC a white man in his 30s armed with a rifle opened fire indiscriminately. "I could see him shooting in just every direction. He wasn't aiming at anyone specifically. It was just left to right, right to left," Contreras said, according to NBC. Emergency personnel stand outside Gilroy High School Credit: AP President
Donald Trump tweeted about the shooting on Sunday night. "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 wrote. Earlier Gilroy police said: “The hearts of the Gilroy Police Department and the entire community go out to the victims of today's shooting at the Garlic Festival.” Founded in 1979, the Gilroy Garlic Festival features food, drink, live entertainment and cooking competitions. It says it is hosted by volunteers and describes itself as the world's greatest summer food festival. It was being held at the outdoor
Christmas Hill Park, where weapons of any kind are prohibited, according to the event's website. Festival officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.