The Gilroy Garlic Festival in gun control heavy California was the scene of an armed attack last night when a gunman cut his way through a fence around the festival grounds and open fired.
5:41 p.m. local time a man said to have been wearing a green shirt and a bandana over his face open fired with what has been tentatively identified as a rifle.
“It appears as though they (the suspects) had come into the festival via the creek which borders a parking area and they used some sort of a tool to cut through the fence,” Smithee said. “That’s how they got into the festival area itself.” – Via CNN
Police recovered a firearm and rifle ammunition from the shooting scene, a law enforcement source told CNN.
The three people killed include a 6 year old boy attending the festival with his family.
Shooter & Motive
The identity of the suspect is known to police but has not been released at this time according to authorities. An accomplice of some sort is also a possibility and may be the reason for withholding the name while the investigation continues.
No motive for the attack has been released officially although there is a report the shooter shouted, “I’m just angry.” or something of the like.
The Situation
Gilroy is a small town of 58,000 and holds the Garlic Festival annually with an expected attendance of around 100,000. It’s a huge event for Gilroy and is a mainstay family gathering.
The police were able to respond quickly to the shooting, reports indicate somewhere between 1 and 5 minutes until officers had engaged the shooter. Multiple social media videos captured the fleeing crowd as shots rang out.
California, a state known and proud of its gun control policies as some of the most restrictive in the nation, is a non-permissive state for concealed carry. The concealed carry permit rate for Santa Clara County, where Gilroy resides, is 1:14,300 or 0.007%. The national average is 8.63% when you drop California and New York from the mix. No one was ready for an attack.
Political Response
President Trump has responded with praise for law enforcement and first responders, condolences and support for the victims, and a message of defiance towards those who would do evil in the world.
“We reaffirm our national will to answer violence with the courage, determination and resolve of one American family,” he said. “We will continue to work together as communities and as citizens to stop evil, prevent violence and protect the safety of all Americans.”
The usual suspects didn’t waste a moment, calling for more gun control and actions to prevent gun violence in our nation. Beto O’Rourke trotted out the 40,000 number, the one that continues to count suicide in the same column as murder. I’m sure you’ll see the tweets and hear the repeat cookie cutter laments for the President and Congress to “do something” next to a list of nonviable security nonsense.
They predictably don’t acknowledge they’re calling for more regulations in the one of the most regulation heavy states in the nation. Full of neutered firearms and unviable laws on firearms tech like microstamping, California is supposed to be the state where this can’t happen, right?
More as we know it.
