Garlic Festival Gunman Made Social Media Posts Before Killing
Jul 29, 2019, 1:55 PM | Updated: Jun 8, 2022, 5:03 pm
Gilroy Police Chief Scot Smithee (C) stands at a press conference the day after a mass shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival on July 29, 2019 in Gilroy, California. Three victims were killed and at least a dozen were wounded before police officers killed a suspect. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
(C)
GILROY, Calif. (AP) – 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 misogynist and anti-Semitic work is used by neo-Nazis and white supremacists on extremist sites.
Minutes before the shooting, he posted a photo from the festival: “Ayyy garlic festival time” and “come get wasted on overpriced (stuff).”
Authorities say the shooter 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.
