Gilroy Garlic Festival shooter killed himself, coroner says, contradicting police version of events
Matthew Ormseth
Back-to-back bursts of gun violence stun America Suspect’s sister among 9 killed in mass shooting The Gilroy Garlic Festival gunman killed himself, the county medical examiner concluded Friday, contradicting an earlier police account that three officers had shot him dead within a minute.
Santino William Legan, 19, opened fire at the popular food festival Sunday evening, killing three people and wounding 13 more. Police had previously said his rampage was cut short when three Gilroy policemen engaged and killed Legan in less than a minute.
The Santa Clara County medical examiner, however, said that Legan died of a self-inflicted, “intra-oral” gunshot wound, according to a spokeswoman for the medical examiner.
Slide 1 of 45: Susan Meyers and husband Michael Oshan listen to a hymn during a vigil for victims of a Sunday evening shooting that left three people dead at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, Monday, July 29, 2019, in Gilroy, Calif.Next SlideFull screen1/45 SLIDES © Noah Berger/AP Photo
A deadly shooting took place at the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival, leaving 3 people dead and injuring several more.(Pictured) People listen to a hymn during a vigil for victims of shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, on July 29, in Gilroy, California.
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At a news conference Thursday, Scot Smithee, the Gilroy police chief, declined to say how many times Legan had been shot. He identified the Gilroy officers who engaged Legan as Eric Cryar, Hugo Del Moral and Robert Basuino, all longtime law enforcement veterans.
“I think they’re heroes. I don’t think they view themselves that way,” Smithee said. “I think they view themselves as just doing their job.”
