A gunman who opened
fire on the popular Gilroy Garlic Festival in
California, killing at least three people and injuring around a dozen others, has been shot dead by police.As videos from the scene showed thousands fleeing and gunshots ringing out, Gilroy’s
police chief said the suspect had cut through a fence to access the festival.The gunman was confronted and killed by officers less than a minute after he opened fire, Scot Smithee said. One witness, Evenny Reyes, said she and others didn’t run at first because the gunshots sounded like fireworks. “It was like the movies – everyone was crying, people were screaming,” she said.The festival is a nationally famous three-day event that attracts upwards of 100,000 garlic enthusiasts from across the country. Sunday was the last day of festivities.Todd Jones, a sound engineer, told the Mercury News that he was at the front of the festival’s Vineyard stage when he heard what sounded like a firework.“But then it started to increase, more rapidly, which sounded more like gunfire, and at that point people realised what was happening,” Jones said.Singer Jack van Breen said his band Tin Man was just starting an encore when the first shots rang out. He said he saw a man wearing a green shirt and greyish 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, he told the Associated Press. He said he heard someone shout: “Why are you doing this? “and the reply: “because I’m really angry.” Agents from federal agencies including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were at the scene and responding to the shooting.The Gilroy Police Department issued a statement on
Twitter urging people who had become separated from loved ones in the chaos to meet at a nearby college car park.“The hearts of Gilroy PD and entire community go out to the victims of today’s
shooting at the Garlic Festival,” the statement read.Videos from the scene showed many families with young children among those trying to flee. Ms Reyes, 13, said she had been attending the festival with friends and family.“We were just leaving and we saw a guy with a bandana wrapped around his leg because he got shot,” she told Mercury News. “And there were people on the ground, crying. There was a little kid hurt on the ground. People were throwing tables and cutting fences to get out.”
Donald Trump tweeted about the shooting on Sunday night. He wrote: “Law Enforcement is at the scene of shootings in Gilroy, California. Reports are that shooter has not yet been apprehended. Be careful and safe!”Gilroy is a city of roughly 50,000 people located about 80 miles (176km) southeast of San Francisco. It’s known as the “Garlic Capital of the World”.