The band TinMan was playing a last song for a crowd of a couple hundred people at the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival on Sunday evening in Northern California. TinMan singer Christian Swain said,
“We ran off the stage (and) we crawled underneath it. We could smell the gunpowder.”
Three people were killed, including a 6-year-old boy. A shooter was also killed, Gilroy Police Chief Scot Smithee said. Gilroy is about 30 miles south of the city of San Jose. Smithee said,
“It appears as though they (suspect) had come into the festival via the creek which borders a parking area and they used some sort of a tool to cut through the fence. That’s how they got into the festival area itself.”
Lex De La Herran was walking away as the music on stage had begun winding down, he said.
“I turned around for a quick moment and I hear the gunshot sounds. At first I thought it was fireworks but a man behind me screamed that ‘those are real, those are real. I just froze like a deer in the headlights.”
I saw people jumping over the fence, people trampling over each other, it was just widespread chaos. People were definitely in shock … some people were visibly shaking.”
De La Herran said a piece of shrapnel hit him in the head. Then, he started running among the crowds.
Stephen Romero, 6, was killed during the shooting. Stephen’s grandmother spoke to CNN affiliate KRON about the boy’s death,
“This is really hard, there’s no words to describe (it). He was such a happy kid, I don’t think that this is fair.”
In the hours following the shooting, Trump tweeted a warning.
“Law Enforcement is at the scene of shootings in Gilroy, California. Reports are that shooter has not yet been apprehended. Be careful and safe!”
Late Sunday night, former VP Joe Biden said
“This violence is not normal. How many more families will have to lose a loved one before we fix our broken gun laws? We must take action, starting with real reform. Our thoughts are with everyone in Gilroy this evening. Enough is enough.”
#WhatHeSaid
Law Enforcement is at the scene of shootings in Gilroy, California. Reports are that shooter has not yet been apprehended. Be careful and safe!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2019
Pundits and anchors: Please don’t speculate about the possible causes of gun violence in America. It’s not mental illness. It’s not video games. It’s not polarization.
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) July 29, 2019
IT. IS. EASY. ACCESS. TO. GUNS.
The data is there. Please use it: https://t.co/iZQrSleARN
Gilroy, California
(Photo, Twitter screen grab; via CNN)
