Suspect dead as three killed in food festival

ASIX-YEAR-OLD boy was among the dead after a gunman cut through a fence to avoid security and opened fire at northern California’s popular Gilroy Garlic Festival.

Three people were killed and at least 15 wounded before police fatally shot the gunman – named as Santino William Legan.

Gilroy Police Chief Scot Smithee said the assailant was armed with a rifle and sneaked in through a fence that borders a parking lot.

He appeared to randomly target people when he opened fire at 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, Mr Smithee said.

Some witnesses reported a second suspect, Mr Smithee said, but it was unclear whether that person was

armed or simply provided assistance.

A manhunt continued late into the night.

Mr Smithee called the scene at the festival a “nightmare you hope you never have to live”.

A six-year-old boy was one among those killed, his father said.

“My son had his whole life to live and he was only six,” the father of Stephen Romero told NBC Bay Area. “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.

The Gilroy Garlic Festival features food, cooking contests and music. It is a decades-old staple in the agricultural city of 50,000 about 80 miles south east of San Francisco.