3 Killed, Dozen Wounded in Shooting at California Garlic Festival [UPDATED]
A city councilman confirmed that at least three people were killed and at least a dozen people were injured at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in northern California on Sunday. Gilroy City Councilman Dion Bracco told The New York Times that he didn’t know if the number of those injured also included the dead.
Bracco told the Times that there was one suspect in police custody. “They don’t know if there were more, so they have to treat it as an active situation,” he told the newspaper.
Police have still not confirmed the number of deaths and injuries, but reported on Twitter that Christmas Hill Park remains an active crime scene at about 8:30 p.m. PDT. NBC Bay Area reported that emergency medical personnel were told of at least 11 injuries.
Video from the festival has noises that seem to be gun shots. Sunday was the third and final day of the festival in Gilroy, which is just over 30 miles southeast of San Jose.
This is a developing story. This post will be updated as more information becomes available
Update, 12:30 a.m. ET, 07/28/2019: Police have still not confirmed the number of deaths and injuries, but reported on Twitter that Christmas Hill Park remains an active crime scene at about 8:30 p.m. PDT. NBC Bay Area reported that emergency medical personnel were told of at least 11 injuries.
Update, 10:58 a.m. ET, 07/29/2019: Authorities said early Monday that at least three people were killed and at least 12 were injured in the shooting before the suspect, who has not yet been named, was killed by police. According to the New York Times, the suspect was “carrying an assault-style rifle.”
Gilroy police chief Scot Smithee told the press that police think “based on witness statements that there was a second individual involved in some way, we just don’t know in what way.” Another press briefing is expected to be scheduled today, Gilroy PD said in a late-night tweet.
President Donald Trump expressed his “deepest sadness and sorrow” about the shooting during a press conference on Monday morning.
At least one of those killed was a child, six-year old Stephen Romero. “My son had his whole life to live and he was only six,” his father, Alberto Romero, told a local NBC affiliate.