# Gilroy Garlic Festival shooter identified as Santino William Legan as police work to find motive



## RodneyFarva (Jan 18, 2007)

Liveleak.com - Shooting victim in the back of a truck at the Garlic Festival
The gunman who killed three people at a Northern California food festival Sunday night turned and fired his "AK-47-type assault rifle" at responding officers before being fatally wounded, police say, as they continue investigating what may have led Santino William Legan to carry out the horrific assault.

Gilroy Chief of Police Scot Smithee told reporters Monday afternoon the attack at the Gilroy Garlic Festival resulted in the deaths of a male in his 20s, a 13-year-old female and a 6-year-old.

"Despite the fact that they were outgunned with their handguns against a rifle, those three officers were able to fatally wound that suspect," Smithee said, describing how officers among those already at the event to provide security engaged the gunman less than a minute after the first shots rang out.

"It could have gotten so much worse, so fast," he added.

WITNESSES RECALL CHAOTIC SCENE AS SHOTS RANG OUT

Police believe Legan legally purchased the rifle in Nevada on July 9 before returning to California with it at some point. A motive for the shooting has yet to be determined.

"Mass gun violence is an epidemic in the United States yet one can never imagine such a thing would happen here in our beautiful community," Gilroy Mayor Roland Volasco said.

Volasco also hailed police for their quick response, saying the officers "undoubtedly saved many lives by putting their own lives in danger.

"It takes remarkable bravery to run to a shooting when the natural reaction for all of us is to run away," he added.
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.

The band TinMan was just starting an encore at the festival 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 then dove under the stage.

During the chaos, Van Breen says he heard someone shout: "Why are you doing this? "and the reply was: "because I'm really angry. "
President Trump, speaking about the shooting Monday, said a "wicked murderer opened fire and killed three innocent citizens including a young child."

"We grieve for their families and we ask that God will comfort them with his overflowing mercy and grace," he added. "We are praying for those who are recovering right now in the hospital, some very, very serious injuries. We thank the brave members of law enforcement -- they never let us down -- who swiftly killed the shooter."

The Santa Clara Medical Examiner identified one of the victims as 6-year-old Stephen Romero, of San Jose.

"He had his whole life to live," Alberto Romero, the boy's father, told NBC Bay Area.

Santino William Legan, 19, killed three people and injured at least 12 others at the festival on Sunday with the rifle he bought July 9 in neighboring Nevada, Gilroy Police Chief Scot Smithee told reporters Monday. Three officers who responded within a minute of the gunfire fatally shot Legan, he said.
Legan apparently entered the annual festival, which attracts about 100,000 people every year, by using a tool to cut through a back fence and then began shooting at random, the chief said. Smithee credited a heavy police presence for saving lives as chaos descended on the festivalin Gilroy, a city about 30 miles south of San Jose.
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."

Personal videos posted to Twitter appeared to show large crowds evacuating the festival. Many witnesses said the shots sounded like fireworks and there initially was confusion over the source of the noise.
One witness told KTVU that he heard what he believed was 30 rounds. Some witnesses said the gunman was in army fatigues.

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."

_The Associated Press contributed to this report
_
*Then you have this master piece from CNN*
An AK-47 style rifle legally purchased in Nevada and used to attack people at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in northern California couldn't have been purchased legally in California, state Attorney General Xavier Becerra said Monday.

Becerra said it's also illegal to transport the assault-style weapon into the state.
"That weapon could not be sold in California. That weapon cannot be imported into the state of California," Becerra said in response to a question about the assault-style rifle used in the shooting.
Becerra added: "There is a very strong likelihood as we develop the evidence that the perpetrator in this particular case violated California law on top of the crimes of homicide and so forth, the crimes that we have that are meant to prevent individuals from carrying out this type of activity." 
Authorities have obtained a warrant to search the vehicle the shooter drove to the festival and aGilroy residence associated with him, according to Smithee. The FBI also searched a Walker Lake, Nevada, residence believed to have been used by the gunman prior to the shooting, Mineral County District Attorney Sean Rowe said.
Police recovered a firearm and rifle ammunition from the shooting scene, a law enforcement source told CNN.
Authorities earlier said they were searching for a second person who witnesses said may have been involved in the shooting. But on Monday, Smithee said multiple people had given differing versions of this person, "so we really don't know at this point."
The killings were the latest addition to a bloody list of American mass shootings that have targeted people anywhere and everywhere they congregate: at festivals, schools, places of worship, movie theaters, workplaces and bars.


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## HistoryHound (Aug 30, 2008)

They really don't need to put his name in the story. "Low life, scum sucking, waste of DNA" is sufficient identification.


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## USM C-2 (Oct 27, 2010)

Sounds like a good response by the officers on scene.


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## pahapoika (Nov 5, 2006)

Guys always bitch about training, but the active shooter drills obviously have paid off when confronting these madmen.

As someone's tag line use to read, _"You'll never rise to the occasion , just sink to the lowest form of your training"
_
Wonder if this story will disappear like the Las Vegas shooter ?


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## mpd61 (Aug 7, 2002)

They're really twisting this up at the Dem debate tonight too! "*Universal background checks*"?. Guy LEGALLY bought a long gun in NEVADA, by *passing a background check.* Then he ILLEGALLY transported it into California, and committed Horrific ILLEGAL acts. 
Mental health problems here............................ Can't predict crazy with legislation. We already have Gun Control, and it will NEVER work 100%


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