US: California garlic festival shooter identified

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

ANKARA (AA) - California police have identified the gunman in Sunday’s Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting, who killed three people -- including a 6-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl -- and wounded 12 others.

Police said Monday that Santino William Legan, 19, the grandson of former Santa Clara County supervisor Tom Legan, was armed with an SKS, a military-style semiautomatic rifle banned in California but “purchased legally” in Nevada on July 9.

Gilroy Police Chief Scott Smithee told reporters that Legan “used a tool to cut through a fence to gain access” to the festival grounds on Sunday night.

Smithee stressed that "it could have gotten so much worse" if three officers patrolling the festival had not responded in less than a minute.

"Despite the fact that they were outgunned, with their handguns, against a rifle,” he added.

According to the Los Angeles Times, hours before the shooting Legan posted a photo on Instagram, which has since been deleted, targeting the festival.

He also posted a message calling on people to read “Might Is Right,” an 1890 novel with racist, anti-Semitic, and Social Darwinist themes.

A motive for the shooting has not yet been made public.

The shooting took place on the final day of the annual three-day festival at Christmas Hill Park.

Police also issued a warning not to approach the area in Christmas Hill Park, saying it remains an "active crime scene."