Witnesses describe Gilroy shooter dressed in khaki, loading rifle silently before killing 3

GILROY, Calif. (KTVU) - Witnesses described a horrifying evening at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, where a shooter dressed in khaki shorts had cut through a fence Sunday evening before killing three people and injuring more than a dozen others at an annual food and family extravaganza held the last weekend in July. 

"I still can't believe this happened," said Candace Marquez, who said her boss at Honey Ladies got shot in the calf and the woman's husband was shot three times. "It's so scary. Especially here in Gilroy."

Marquez was going to the bathroom just about 5:40 p.m. when she came outside and heard what she thought were fireworks. She quickly turned and saw a man with a rifle. He was dressed in khaki shorts, a green vest and a brown hat.

On Monday morning, law enforcement officials identified the shooter as Santino William Legan, 19. He was also killed on Sunday. Police and ATF agents surrounded his home in Gilroy, about a mile from the police department. An ATF agent answered the door and said the family would not be doing interviews. 

Gunman kills 3 at Gilroy Garlic Festival

Marquez said that the shooter was silent as he loaded his rifle on Sunday. 

"He didn't say anything," Marquez said, describing how he started loading what looked like a clip into his weapon. "He was very quiet. If we would have said a word, he would have shot us." 

Her co-worker also said she came out of the portable toilet area to see a man standing with a rifle and start shooting. She said her boss and her husband were taken to the hospital. Efforts to reach Honey Ladies on Monday morning were not immediately successful. 

"We were just leaving and we saw a guy with a bandana wrapped around his leg because he got shot. And there were people on the ground, crying," said Eveny Reyes, 13, of Gilroy. "There was a little kid hurt on the ground. People were throwing tables and cutting fences to get out." 

The teen said that she didn't run at first because the gunshots sounded like fireworks. "It started going for five minutes, maybe three. It was like the movies -- everyone was crying, people were screaming." 

Karen Wilson said the scene was "very chaotic. People were screaming, running and crying." She was waiting outside the festival for a while because her dog was still on the fair grounds. Her husband, Gary Wilson, said as they were leaving the TinMan concert, two women and a baby hopped into the back of his truck to escape the pandemonium. 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. He and other members of the band dove under the stage. 

At a news conference on Sunday, Gilroy Police Chief Scot Smithee said a second suspect could be on the loose and dozens of officers are searching the area.

A total of 19 other were injured -- the youngest is 12 and the oldest is 69, according to police and Santa Clara Valley Medical Center spokeswoman Joy Alexiou. Earlier reports put the number of injured at 12. 

Police from multiple nearby agencies responded to the festival at Christmas Hill Park and agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were also assisting with the investigation. 

Both Gov. Gavin Newsom and President Donald Trump tweeted their support for the victims and the community of Gilroy and asked that people stay safe. 

The shooting occurred during the last day of the annual garlic festival, a three-day celebration featuring food, cooking competitions and music that attracts more than 100,000 people.

Brian Bowe, the executive director for the festival, said the shooting was a "horrible thing to experience. We couldn't feel worse."

 
#BREAKING: We just heard shots fired at my location in #Gilroy. Police seen going into creek wearing full tactical gear. @KTVU #GilroyGarlicFestival

Below are videos from the scene. WARNING: VIDEOS MAY CONTAIN GRAPHIC IMAGES.

KTVU's Sara Zendehnam and the Asoociated Press contributed to this report.