11 injured, 4 dead including 6-year-old Stephen Romero at California food festival shooting
At first, festival goers attending the third and final day of the annual Garlic Festival yesterday in Gilroy, California, thought the pops they were hearing were fireworks going off to highlight the closing hours of the three-day event. Reality set in when a man carrying a rifle was observed entering the fairgrounds from the side of the festival’s concert stage. Witnesses say the man just started shooting randomly into the crowd.
Police already on the scene were able to respond in minutes. By the time the shooting ended, 11 people had been shot and injured. Three had been shot dead, including six-year-old Stephen Romero. Police also shot and killed the shooter.
A search is on for a second gunman who witnesses claim was also at the center of the carnage. Gilroy Police Chief Scot Smithee was quoted by CNN as saying that police that were present at the decades old festival were responsible for making sure that the more people weren’t hurt or killed.
“We had many, many officers in the park at the time this occurred … which accounts for a very, very quick response time,” Smithee said.
Victims whose conditions ranged from fair to serious were transported to area hospitals, hospital officials said.
Witnesses reported seeing a second individual who has not yet been identified or found. Authorities haven’t yet determined how the second person was involved, Smithee said.
A manhunt is underway for that second suspect, the chief said
The northern California town of Gilroy is approximately 30 miles south of San Jose. Fox News reported that the shooting began yesterday just as the festival was winding down at 5:41 p.m. A rock band playing on the concert stage when the shooting started was playing their last song of the evening.
Gilroy Police kept a high profile on social media in an effort to keep the public informed.
Regarding the shooting death of six-year-old Stephen Romero, Gilroy City Councilmember Fred M. Tovar said that he was deeply saddened at the news.
“I pray that God will grant his family strength. My most sincere condolences. I will keep your family close in my thoughts and prayers in the coming weeks as you are going through the process of grieving,” he said in a statement.
Stephen’s grandmother and father both spoke to CNN affiliate KRON about the boy’s death.
“This is really hard, there’s no words to describe (it),” Romero’s grandmother told the affiliate. “He was such a happy kid, I don’t think that this is fair.”
For more on yesterday’s tragic shooting in California, see the video accompanying this article.
(Cover photo: Stephen Romero, Image credit: CBS This Morning / YouTube)
~ Written by Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Connect with Richard on Facebook and Twitter
