A report of a shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival caused mass chaos among festival attendees Sunday evening, according to CBS San Francisco. The station reported that at least 3 people are dead and 12 others are injured.
The Gilroy Police Department acknowledged the “victims of today’s shooting” in a tweet, but didn’t provide any further details. Police said “the scene is still active.”
At least seven people were hospitalized, according to The Associated Press.
A witness at Christmas Hill Park, where the festival is held annually, recorded video of people scrambling to escape and posted it on social media. Gilroy is located approximately 33 miles south of San Jose.
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According to CBS San Francisco, multiple emergency crews and ambulances have responded at the scene tending to injuries. People have been evacuated to a nearby amphitheater as a safe point.
Witnesses describe shooting unfolding
A witness described hearing what sounded like “a semi-automatic going off really close” when the Sunday shooting unfolded. “As soon as the gunfire started, everybody scattered and people were yelling for their kids,” the witness told CBS San Francisco.
Another witness mistook the gunfire for a music act. “I thought it was, like, an opening act for the concert,” he said.
At least 7 hospitalized
According to a spokesperson for the Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, at least five people were hospitalized in the wake of the Sunday shooting. Two people were admitted and the hospital expects three more.
An additional two people were transported to Stanford Medical Center. No further details were provided about the patients’ conditions.
Trump and lawmakers respond to shooting
President Trump has been briefed on the shooting in Gilroy and claims that the shooter has yet to be apprehended. “Be careful and safe!” Mr. Trump wrote.
2020 Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris of California, who grew up in the East Bay and previously served as San Francisco District Attorney, also tweeted about the shooting, calling it “simply horrific.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom echoed Harris’ statement and said that the state “stands with the Gilroy community.”
ATF and FBI responds to Gilroy shooting
The ATF office in San Francisco is responding to the reported shooting, according to a tweet Sunday night. The FBI is also assisting.
Gilroy police set up reunification services
The Gilroy Police Department have set up services meant to help reunite those who were at the Garlic Festival with their loved ones, including a phone number and reunification center at Gavilan College in parking lot B.
