Gilroy Festival Shooting: Four Dead, 15 Injured As Gunman Opens Fire

Four persons, including the suspect, died and 15 others were wounded after at least one gunman opened fire at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in northern California. According to authorities, the shootings took place on Sunday evening – the last day of the annual food festival.

The gunman, armed with an assault rifle, opened fire on unsuspecting people at the festival before being killed by the police, Gilroy police said. Police are yet to release information about the identity of the suspect.

Hundreds of people were sent scrambling for safety when the shots rang out. Witnesses said the attendees were diving on the ground and crawling under the tables screaming in fear.

A chaotic video of the incident was posted on Twitter by one of the attendees:

In a late-night briefing, Gilroy Police Chief Scot Smithee told the reporters that officers engaged the suspect immediately after he started shooting and killed him. According to Smithee, the gunman cut through the perimeter fence to avoid metal detectors and gain access to the festival. There was no word out on what could be the possible motive for the gunman.

Police said the shooting began at 5:41 p.m. local time (8:41 p.m. EDT). According to NBC Bay Area, a 6-year-old boy from San Jose, named Steven Romero, was identified as one of the victims.

Smithee said that according to witnesses, one other person might also have been involved in the shooting, however, there was no confirmation as to what role he played.

Don Gage, mayor of Gilroy, expressed extreme shock and sadness for what happened at the festival.

Multiple emergency crew and ambulances responded to the scene. About 30 FBI agents too arrived to investigate the incident. Gilroy police asked anyone with any information about the shootings to call 404-846-0583, which is also the witness and family reunification line.

A witness, Ryan Wallace, told NBC News about the Gilroy Garlic Festival shooter, “I watched him walk up, he raised his gun and started spraying rounds all around. He was walking like he wanted to get stuff done. It was horrifying. He was ready to do some damage.”

Another witness said he mistook the gunfire for a music act. He thought it was an opening act for a concert.

President Donald Trump and other lawmakers including 2020 Democratic Presidential candidate Kamala Harris and California Gov. Gavin Newsom responded to the shooting on Twitter.

Many others also expressed their anger and sadness at the incident and blamed the administration for not being able to curb incidents related to mass shootings. Activists are now pushing even more aggressively for gun reforms and have taken to twitter to express the same.