Police: Suspect in Gilroy Garlic Festival fatal mass shooting is dead

(Image credit: AP Photo/Noah Berger)

published 29 July 2019

The suspect in Sunday night's mass shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in Northern California is dead, Gilroy Police Chief Scot Smithee said during a press conference, but based on interviews with witnesses, it's believed there could be a second suspect still on the run. At least three people were killed and 15 injured in the shooting, Smithee said.

Smithee said it's unclear if this suspect was engaged in the shooting or played a support role. The food festival, one of the largest in the United States, was finishing up for the weekend at Christmas Hill Park when gunfire erupted. Smithee said it appears the deceased suspect approached the park through a creek and used a tool to cut through a fence in order to gain access to the festivities.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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