SHOOTER SPREE
Fiend kills at least 3 at Calif. fest: reports
A shooter descended on the Gilroy Garlic Festival in California on Sunday, wounding multiple people, police said.
Video of the aftermath posted on Twitter showed people lying on blood spattered ground as medics tended to their wounds.
The New York Times reported that at least three people were killed and 12 had been injured, citing Gilroy Councilman Dion Bracco.
As the chaotic situation unfolded, the number of victims could not immediately be confirmed and police did not provide details. It was unclear if the shooter was still on the grounds, but according to reports police were searching a heavily wooded area near the festival, and the San Francisco office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was sending investigators to Gilroy.
“This is nothing short of horrific,” Gov. Gary Newsom tweeted. “Tonight, CA stands with the Gilroy community.”
“The hearts of Gilroy PD and entire community go out to the victims of today’s shooting at the Garlic Festival,” the police department tweeted. “The scene is still active. If you are looking for a loved one, please go to the reunification center at Gavilan College at parking lot B.”
Local NBC affiliate KNTV reported witnesses saying they saw and heard at least one shooter.
Julissa Contreras told the station: “White male, I would say mid-30s, early 30s,” she told NBC, which was livestreaming from the site. She said he was firing a semiautomatic weapon and that she heard three to four shots per second. Contreras said the shooter was wearing a cap, sunglasses and had clips strapped to him.
“He definitely was prepared for what he was doing.”
She told the station the shooter came in near a service entrance, between booths, one of which had kids coming down an inflatable slide. His back to them, he started spraying the crowd, she said.
“We heard the shooting,” she said. “After about the eighth shot I realized they weren’t firecrackers. We just ran.” They hid behind a row of tents, and she could see over the tops of them.
“I could see him shooting in every direction, and the kids were just running out of the slide frantically,” she said, adding that he appeared to be spraying the crowd. “Left to right, right to left, back and forth.”
The festival, which runs for three days, was winding down but about 300 people were still there, KNTV reported. Police were called at about 5:30 p.m.
Ambulance crews were told that 11 people were down at Gilroy’s Christmas Hill Park, according to early reports.
Ryan Wallace was running a rock climbing wall for kids when he heard what he thought were firecrackers or fireworks. He said he saw someone wearing what looked like military-tactical clothing. “He was walking like he wanted to get stuff done,” Wallace told NBC. “And it was horrifying.”
Festival public relations head Katherine Filice told The Mercury-News that her publicity team members were “all OK.”
One man told KNTV that he was helping people, including his wife, escape.
Evenny Reyes, 13, told The Mercury News that she and friends “were just leaving and we saw a guy with a bandana wrapped around his leg because he got shot. 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.”