Gunman made social media posts before killing in California festival shooting
By The Associated Press
Email: news@abc6.com
Twitter: @ABC6
GILROY, CALI (AP) – GILROY, Calif. (AP) – The Latest on a shooting at a food festival in Northern California (all times local):
11:50 a.m
The gunman in the California festival shooting appears to have posted two photos on Instagram that day, including one minutes before he opened fire.
Police say Santino William Legan killed three victims and wounded 12 others Sunday at the Gilroy Garlic Festival.
Legan’s since-deleted Instagram account says he is Italian and Iranian. It also shows a photo he posted earlier depicting Smokey the Bear in front of a “fire danger” sign.
In the caption, Legan said to read “Might is Right,” a book published in the 1800s.
The philosophy says that whoever is strongest is morally right.
Minutes before the shooting, he posted a photo from the festival: “Ayyy garlic festival time” and “come get wasted on overpriced (stuff).”
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10:44 a.m.
The mayor of the California city where a gunman killed three at an annual food festival says the community will mourn the tragedy but will get through it. Gilroy Mayor Roland Velasco told a press conference Monday that gun violence is an epidemic in the United States and it’s “beyond sad” that a charitable event such as the Gilroy Garlic Festival was targeted.
The gunman opened fire Sunday as the festival was in its closing hours, sending the crowd scattering.
Three police officers immediately engaged and killed the gunman, who was armed with an assault-type rifle.
The mayor commended the officers’ “remarkable bravery” in running toward the shooter and says they undoubtedly saved many lives by putting their own lives in danger.
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10:25 a.m.
Authorities say the shooter who attacked a California food festival used an assault-type rifle and opened fire on three local police officers who immediately responded.
Gilroy Police Chief Scot Smithee says even though the handgun-equipped officers were outgunned, the officers were able quickly fatally shoot the gunman.
The shooting occurred on the closing day of the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival.
The gunman killed a 6-year-old boy, a 13-year-old girl and a man in his 20s. There’s no immediate word on the other 15 people who were either wounded or suffered injuries such as scrapes and bruises.
Smithee says the motive remains unknown. Police are still investigating whether there is a second suspect.
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8:50 a.m.
A woman who lives across the street from the family of a man who opened fire at California food festival says SWAT officers came to the home.
Jan Dickson says the officers ordered those inside to come out with their hands up Sunday night and one person did. She says the parents had four boys: one who’s a boxer and another who’s a runner.
Dickson said Monday that they were “a nice, normal family.” She says Santino William Legan hadn’t lived there for at least a year.
A law enforcement official who wasn’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity said Legan opened fire at the Gilroy Garlic Festival on Sunday.
The shooting killed three people, including a 6-year-old boy, and injured about 15 before police killed the gunman.
