It took less than a minute for police officers to respond after gunfire erupted at a Northern California food festival Sunday night, with cops quickly engaging and fatally shooting the gunman — but not before the assailant’s brief barrage left three dead and 15 others injured.
The shooting rampage began at 5:41 p.m. on the north side of the Gilroy Garlic Festival, Chief of Police Scot Smithee said at a press conference late Sunday. Cops were set to give another update at 1 p.m. ET Monday.
“We had many, many officers in the park at the time that this occurred as we do any day during a festival, which accounts for the very, very quick response time,” Smithee told reporters following the shooting.
Smithee said the gunman gained access to the festival by cutting through a fence near a creek area. He said some witnesses reported a second suspect, but police could not immediately confirm those reports and it was unclear if that person also had a weapon or may have been providing some support to the shooter.
— niah ㊝ (@wavyia) July 29, 2019
NBC Bay Area reported that a 6-year-old boy, Steven Romero, was among the victims.
“He had his whole life to live,” Alberto Romero, the boy’s father, said. “He was only six.”
Ryan Wallace, a witness, told the channel that he watched the gunman—who was almost dressed like a police officer—raise his gun up and started to “spray rounds.” The gunman walked through the crowd, he said.
“He wanted to get stuff done,” he said. “It was horrifying.”
6 year old Steven Romero of San Jose is one of the 3 victims killed in the Gilroy Garlic Festival Shooting. RIP 🙏🏻 @nbcbayarea https://t.co/anfqNSVs3p pic.twitter.com/ioE5fDagj7
— Janelle Wang (@janellewang) July 29, 2019
“It’s sort of a nightmare that you hope to never have to live in reality, but we find ourselves in the circumstances where we have to live it today,” Smithee said.
Personal videos posted to Twitter appeared to show large crowds evacuating the festival. Many witnesses said the shots sounded like fireworks and there was confusion. The first shots were fired near an amphitheater, one witness said.
One witness told KTVU that he heard what he believed was 30 rounds. Some witnesses said the gunman was in army fatigues.
If you were a witness to the #GilroyActiveShooter and have not yet talked to police, please call 408-846-0583. You can also go the Gilroy Police Department right now and give your statement to an officer. Please only direct witnesses who saw something.
— Gilroy Police (@GilroyPD) July 29, 2019
The San Francisco Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was responding to the scene, officials said. Smithee said dozens of officers are at the scene investigating.
The band TinMan was just starting an encore when shots rang out.
Singer Jack van Breen said he saw a man wearing a green shirt and grayish handkerchief around his neck fire into the food area with what looked like an assault rifle. Van Breen and other members of the band dove under the stage. Van Breen says he heard someone shout: “Why are you doing this? “and the reply: “because I’m really angry. “
This is nothing short of horrific. Tonight, CA stands with the Gilroy community. My office is monitoring the situation closely. Grateful for the law enforcement’s efforts and their continued work as this situation develops. https://t.co/GrtHjtCEz7
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) July 29, 2019
His bandmate Vlad Malinovsky from Walnut Creek, California, said he heard a lot of shots and then it stopped. Later, law enforcement came by and told the band members and others hiding with them to come out with their hands up.
Todd Jones, a sound engineer, told the newspaper that he was at the front of the festival’s Vineyard stage when he heard what sounded like a firework. “But then it started to increase, more rapidly, which sounded more like gunfire, and at that point, people realized what was happening,” Jones said.
Natalie Martinez, a Gilroy resident, told the Mercury News that she had gone to get food and separated from her two daughters. “I ran to find the girls . and we basically ran into each other. I thought, ‘We’re open prey.’ It was awful.”
