Gilroy victims seek damages from festival, security firm
Five people who were injured in the Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting filed a lawsuit against the festival’s organizers and at least one security company, alleging lax security allowed a gunman to enter the festival, lawyers representing them said Tuesday.
The suit, filed in Santa Clara County Superior Court, alleges security “failures” allowed the gunman to enter the festival on July 28 and open fire, killing three people and wounding at least a dozen. The five plaintiffs who filed the suit were all wounded by gunfire.
Police said a gunman, identified as 19yearold Santino William Legan, cut through a fence to get into the event July 28 before opening fire with a rifle, killing three people — 6yearold Stephen Romero, 13yearold Keyla Salazar and 25yearold Trevor Irby. Legan also wounded at least 12 others, some critically. He then turned the gun on himself and died of a selfinflicted wound, au
thorities said. It’s not clear what motivated the shooting.
Gilroy police have said they believe the gunman cut through the perimeter fence at the festival to avoid metal detectors at the entrance.
The perimeter of the festival had an “inadequate, flimsy, lowheight, unsupported chain link fence” in a wooded area that was not properly monitored, according to the suit.
Scarlett Law Group attorneys filed the suit against the Gilroy Garlic Festival Association and First Alarm Security and Patrol.
“The lawsuit filed today stemming from a horrific act of domestic terrorism is not unexpected, and we will respond through the appropriate legal channels,” the Gilroy Garlic Festival Association said in a statement. “As a nonprofit organization, we must remain focused on our mission: fundraising for the entire community of Gilroy and the more than 150 charities that rely on us.”
First Alarm Security and Patrol could not immediately be reached for comment.
Victims said they hope the suit can help pay hospital bills, which are still accumulating, and change security measures to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
“One of the big concerns that we have is the future and what we can and cannot do,” said Wendy Towner, who was among the first people to be shot and one of the plaintiffs, at a news conference. “I was under the impression that all things were safe and ... under control and it’s been hard to think ... that we weren’t safe out there. I don’t want this to have to happen to anybody ever again.”
The first 911 calls from the festival came in at 5:41 p.m. — the final hour of the threeday festival, which attracts up to 100,000 people a year.
Towner’s husband, Francisco Aguilera, 41, of Morgan Hill, remembered he was almost ready to pack up the honey he and his wife were selling. But they then heard gunfire.
“We thought it wasn’t anything,” Aguilera, who is also a plaintiff, said in an interview Tuesday.
But they saw a person in the distance firing a gun toward a crowd that was eating, and they started shouting.
The gunman turned to them and opened fire, Aguilera said. They both collapsed to the ground after a flurry of shots.
Aguilera told her: Don’t talk and don’t move because this man is going to hear us and will kill us.
“The gunman came toward us and, in that moment, I lost consciousness,” he said.
Aguilera was struck by gunfire four times, including a shot that pierced his femoral artery, according to the suit. He said he was shot in the arm and leg.
After the shooting, Aguilera and Towner spent five weeks in a hospital recovering, undergoing numerous surgeries. They regularly return to hospitals for checkins and don’t know when they will be able to work again. Donations have helped them stay afloat, but they have not heard from government or festival officials about receiving any financial help, Aguilera said.
“The principal thing is to enhance security at festivals,” he said. “Another point is we don’t know what will become of us. Right now we can’t work. I can’t tell you if I will be able to — I don’t know.”
The other plaintiffs in the suit are: Brynn OtaMatthews, who still has a bullet lodged behind her rib cage; Nick McFarland, who was shot as he ran away from the gunman; and Justin Bates, who tried to carry his friend to safety, despite being shot, before collapsing.
Randall H. Scarlett, who is representing the victims, said he may file more suits on behalf of other victims he has been talking to. He said he is preparing to file a government claim against the city of Gilroy, which has to be filed before a lawsuit is filed against the city.