State Watch

3 dead in shooting at garlic festival in California

by Chris Mills Rodrigo and Emily Birnbaum

Three people were killed in a shooting Sunday at a popular garlic festival in Gilroy, Calif., authorities said.

As many as 15 others were injured, according to news reports.

A 6-year-old boy was identified by his father as one of the three fatal victims.

{mosads}“My son had his whole life to live and he was only 6,” the father of Stephen Romero told NBC Bay Area. “That’s all I can say.”

A 13-year-old girl and a man in his 20s were also killed, officials told The Associated Press.

Police Chief Scott Smithee said gun shots were first heard at 5:41 p.m. and officers engaged the alleged shooter, who was killed less than a minute later.

“We have no idea of a motive,” Smithee added.

The alleged gunman has been identified as 19-year-old Santino William Legan of Gilroy, according to CBS News.

Smithee told reporters Monday that Legan appeared to be randomly targeting people when he opened fire on the crowd with a rifle that had been legally purchased in Nevada earlier this month.

Police are looking for a possible second suspect, who Smithee said may have been “involved in some way, we just don’t know in what way.”

California Sen. Kamala Harris, a Democratic presidential candidate, called the shooting “horrific.”

“Our country has a gun violence epidemic that we cannot tolerate,” she said in a tweet.

The festival in Gilroy, known as the garlic capital of the U.S., is a three-day event that attracts thousands of people. Sunday was the final day of this year’s festivities.

An Instagram account under the Legan’s name contained a post praising a white supremacist manifesto, according to archived screenshots. The Daily Beast was the first to report on the post, which included a caption that read in part: “Read Might Is Right by Ragnar Redbeard.”

Redbeard’s “Might Is Right,” popular literature among neo-Nazis and white supremacists, promotes violence and strength as a moral strategy.
 
Another Instagram post on the account read: “Ayyy, garlic festival time.”
 
Instagram confirmed it is working with law enforcement and that it has removed the Instagram account with the same name as the shooter identified by authorities.
 
A string of confirmed and suspected gunmen this year have left behind social media presences littered with white supremacist and neo-Nazi rhetoric, often promoted on fringe websites including 4chan and 8chan.

The Gilroy Police Department said in a tweet Monday that the community’s hearts go out to the victims.

This developing report was updated on July 29 at 8:06 p.m.