Transcripts For KNTV NBC Bay Area News At 11 20240714

Heartache at the gilroy garlic festival. A gunman opening fire, sending people running for their lives. Just as that festival was coming to its threeday close. If youve been joining us, weve been on for hours covering breaking news out of the south bay. Good evening, everyone. Im jessica aguirre. And im raj mathai. Were hearing a lot of stories. First, some of the latest numbers we have for you. And this unfortunately is not over. We started this around 5 40 this afternoon, continues into this evening. The gunman several rounds, several victims, and there might be a second suspect on the loose right now. That initial first suspect, the suspected shooter has been shot and killed. This is happening right there at the annual festival, something that the bay area has celebrated more than 40 years now. Within the last hour, investigators did hold the news conference. Here are some of the numbers they passed along to us. Were learning about it along with all of you at home as we continue to get the information. There are three people dead. One of them a 6yearold boy from san jose. 15 others injured. The gunman also dead. So the total count would be four. That includes the gunman. W witnesses have said there may be a second suspect, but thats unclear of the persons involvement, if any, in this shooting near Gilroy High School. We have Live Team Coverage for you, and weve had it on for hours. Let us begin tragically with janelle wang at st. Louise hospital. This is with we had one child die, just a 6yearold boy who had gone to the festival with his mother and his grandmother, and you spoke to the father who seemed to be in absolute shock. Jessica and raj, such a difficult day for the romero family. Three members of their family shot today, including a 6yearold boy confirmed. He passed away here at st. Louise hospital. His mother and grandmother also shot. They were taken to valley med in san jose for their gunshot injuries and were told theyll be going into surgery soon. 6yearold Steven Romero was just such a happy boy, his father told me. He contacted nbc bay area and said he wanted to talk to us about his boy in front of the african american. Just so active, he just celebrated his sixth birthday at legoland in june, and here is what his father had to say about him. How are you holding up . Whats going through your mind . Whats going through my mind is hopefully they get the shooters, and basically thats it right now. And i lost my son. There is nothing i really can do besides try to be with him until i can put him in his resting spot, wherever that is. I dont know what to say to him. My son had his whole life to live. He was only 6. Thats all. Thats all i can say. Reporter you were home with your daughter who was how old is she . She is 9 years old. Reporter and then your wife was shot in the leg . Her arm . In her hands, twice. Reporter and their your motherinlaw was shot in the leg . The leg, i believe in the leg. Im not sure. Reporter obviously Alberto Romero just in shock. Hes out here right now with about a dozen family and friends from san jose. Be at st. Louise hospital in gilroy to be by his side. Lots of tears shed. Its just been such an etiore t dozen patients from the gilroy garlic festival brought here initially. Seven were treated and released. They were suffering from scrapes, bruises, and basically injuries from falling and running for their lives. About six others all gunshot victims were also brought here. Three remain here. Two others were transferred to valley med, and that is the romero family, the mother and the grandmother. As you said, one was shot in the arm and the hand a couple of times. And he thinks the grandmother was shot in the leg, but he has not been able to talk to them since they were rushed to the hospital. And then of course his 6yearold son who passed away here. He does have an older sister, a 9yearold. Both dad and the daughter were at home at the time when they got the call from his wife that they had been shot and that their son had passed away. The family is now wrapping up right now and picking up their belongings. Theyve been waiting until they release the body of the 6yearold boy, and theyve all been out here for hours, standing by the fathers side. And they are just wrapping up and leaving now and going back to san jose, because it appears the boy has been released to the father. They have not even discussed or thought about funeral arrangements or plans. They are just in shock right now. Cant even process whats going on, and obviously theyre just hoping that mom g andma do fine in their surgeries and pull through, and of course mourning for 6yearold Steven Romero. So a very difficult day at st. Louise. Still some hospital victims here. Three gunshot victims. We dont know their condition. No hospital spokesperson has come out yet, but we will be here monitoring this situation here at st. Louise. Reporting live in gilroy, janelle wang, nbc bay area news. Okay, thank you, janelle. And just to think about what that mother must be going through, having been shot when she gets out of surgery to find out. Grandmother, the mother. That her son has been killed. Its just so much for one person to trach in. And thats what weve been hearing for hours. Weve had people, witnesses tell us how they ran for their lives, how they heard the gunshot, how they saw people bleeding, their bodies on the ground. Its just been moments so tragic and heartwrenching for these people, seared into their memories for the rest of their lives. And for the last couple of hours they were in tears telling us, whether on the camera or telephone telling us, there are a lot of Good Samaritans helping them over fences. And thisfid. This is right next to Gilroy High School. They ran into neighbors homes. There were children on rock walls that were shot and pulled down. Elementary school. A lot of these moments caught on camera. Watch some of these. [ gunshots ] you can hear. Those are the gunshots that rang out as people were eating a sandwich or walking around. One minute youre just having something and youre going around looking at a vendor, maybe doing a little shopping. This is as its closing up. A lot of the vendors are starting to take down their booth, and the next thing you know, utter panic. Utter panic. So from whats happening with the victims, which is obviously our priority here to check on their status, but also happening now at this hour is this active search in the gilroy area right near uvas reek. Lets bring in nbc bay areas Marianne Favro who joins us on location. Marianne has switched locations several times following where the local and federal helicopter, marianne, buzzing above you. Yes, theyre still out here, raj. We are at the main entrance of the gilroy garlic festival on uvas and miller. Right now the helicopters are circling above as they have been for the last five hours. The search for the second suspect continues right now. I want to show you whats going on here. There are hundreds of Police Officers here from all different agencies, sheriffs department, and also coming all the way from greenfield and other areas, also north of us. Theyre all here. We also had some Armored Vehicles with s. W. A. T. Teams as welch issing for this possible second suspect. Now in the last hour, they have been out here searching with flashlights on the ground, combing the area near uvas creek and going into the eucalyptus grove, all by foot, for the suspect or possible evidence. Earlier tonight i spoke with Ricardo Garcia of san jose. He was graze bade happened. We were just working, and then heard aerent sure what was it . And then right after a bunch of shots, and it was like out of nowhere, i felt something in my leg. And just kind of threw ourselves to the ground. And then after that, it was just like it started to hurt more and more. I noticed i was bleeding. My sock was ripped. And it hurts really bad right now. Im so glad youre okay. Can you did you get medical attention . Yeah, yeah. They treated me. What condition is your leg . Im not sure if it grazed or bounced off. Im not 100 sure. But i know something hit me. And, sir, can you tell us where were you at the time when you were hit . And did you see the gunman . No, i didnt see him. We by the information booth, like kind of the middle where food and all the food was, pretty much in the middle. Thats where we were at. Can you show us your leg, y ndaged it up. It hit your ankle . Yes. Okay. And obviously, this is such close call. You must feel pretty fortunate. How you feeling tonight . Just happy to be alive and being able to go become to my family. And thats all i want to do right now. Just go back to my family. And back here live, these two women are just getting out of the gilroy garlic festival. Tell me, were you working the festival or were you attending . We were working the festival. So tell me what happened. Well, we were about to start our shift, and we thought we heard firecrackers. To begin and it stopped then we were. This is something. We have security, Armed Security there too. And then they just got all of us and we went inside the trailer and hunkered down for quite a while. And then we still had more duties. We volunteered for the money counting of the festival. So we were at the financial trailer. So we had police armed guards already to block anybody else from going in, except qualified volunteers or approved volunteers, i should say. So we were waiting to start our shift, and thats when we heard all of the sudden, we thought it was fireworks. And thats when we realized afterwards when people started running, no, its gunfire. So the eme were telling them, ground. They rounded us all up. No, its gunfire. They said stay there. They were talkington radios and everything else. Weve just been there since, what, 5 30. So youve been in the trailer. Since 5 30. How terrifying was the situation . Well, we prayed. We prayed a lot. I felt that we were safe there, though. I felt that we were safe. But we had some other people, children or young adults other volunteers come in who had seen a lot and were just terrified. Just terrified. Understandably. So im so glad that youre safe, and thank you for taking the time to talk with us. And im glad youre finally able to go home to your families. Thank you. Thank you very much, ladies. We appreciate it so much. Thank you. And within the last hour, also we want to mention that about 40 people just walked out of here with a police escort, and they were taken and put on buses, coach buses that were waiting, and they were brt Relocation Center so they could be reunited with their families. That all happened within the last hour. R a possible second s. The chopper is overhead, and hundreds of Law Enforcement remain out here tonight. Reporting live in gilroy, Marianne Favro, nbc bay area news. Remarkable to hear those women describe. Now we have better context of why some people were still in there. A lot of them, the employees or the volunteers that had been caught in all of this that were hunkered down trying to stay secure. That womans interview saying that they had been there to count some of the money. Clearly theyre in the financial section of that. And for five hours. Five and a half hours. And there continues to be dozens of people slowly being released. Weve been seeing all these people come out. At 10 00, five busloads. At 10 30, another bus load. And at 11 00, marianne, some other women. And they were fortunate. They had emts and police with them. At least they had some sense of security. What harrowing experience. This all continues to unfold at this hour. And thats what makes this remarkable in itself. So at mariannes location, we know that they are actively looking and have been for hours to see if there is anything along that creek bed or that potential second suspect. But our robert handa is Gilroy High School wherehaslso n reporter thats right. Were about a half a mile away from the main entrance of the park where Marianne Favro was. Were still here at Gilroy High School where a number of agencies are continuing to stage here. We saw those four coach buses leaving here under a police escort. Probably one of them at least headed to the hospital, bringing people out from the scene here. Well give you a quick look at down the road here, down tenth street. This is about a half a mile away i from Christmas Hill park. And the fringe where the search is taking place. You can see some of the vehicles there that have cordoned off that area. That we were onc at one point theyyold us we were not allowed to go 31 there, and we saw a lot of the taitt shift. We saw 15 or so Law Enforcement officers units as well as Armored Vehicles going in. And they have been spreading out through that area. And so we can see that theyre trying to cover quite a large area, but as chris chmura pointed out before, very rural. And we saw them bring in a lot of huge lighting equipment, the kind you see at sporting events. We have not seen them set that up, but it does look like they are prepared for search into areas that are fairly hard to ses well as maybe into the night. Thats the latest in terms of the search from our fringe area here and where the search has been centered. Live in gilroy, robert handa, nbc bay area news. Thank you. Thats where things turned, because for much of this, it was still daylight outside when they were looking for this possible suspect. All of the sudden around 9 00, it go dark. So now its a whole different Tactical Team coming in from local and federal agent, and theyll stay there through the night looking for the possible suspect. We heard the police chief talk about how all this unfolded. And really, the sense of responsibility that he felt being in charge of all this. He said initially that this is something that you never want to see in your career, something he never expected to see happen in gilroy. The police chief spoke. The garlic festival organizer spoke. This is what they had to say. This is one of those press conferences you never want to have to give in your community. And its sort of a nightmare that you never hope you have to live in reality, but unfortunately find ourselves in the circumstances where we have to live this today. Gilroy is an amazing community, a tightly knit community. We are family. We have the wonderful opportunity in this community to celebrate our family through our garlic festival. And for over four decades, that festival has been our annual family reunion. And it is such a sad just horribly upsetting circumstance that this happened. This is all of our small towns. And that you can see how emotional the police chief is, the director of the garlic festival. Even if you havent been to gilroy, weve tasted ic. This is all of our small towns. Its one of the best festivals we have, not just in the bay area, but northern california. This is where we celebrate. 41 years weve celebrated there. You can see how emotional they were to go through all this. And you just dont expect its going to happen. You hear there is all security you. Good to one of these events, you think its going to be great and to be caught in Something Like this. We heard one witness say you just dont think its going to happen to you. Its hard. Lets bring in nbc bay areas lili tan. She has also spoken with some witnesses and people who just left that area. Apparently they saw that gunman facetoface. What do you have, lilttl lili. Reporter absolutely. If these women hadnt left their booth when they did, it would be a different story. They were working at a booth called the honey ladies. They left after 5 00 to go use the rest room. When they consider coming back, they heard a gunshot and saw the shooter. They said he was an average joe, a white male around 25 to 35 years old, wearing a brown hat, green vest and shirts. One of the women tells us what happens next. It was unreal. When you see this happen in other places, you think that can never happen to us. You know, we were standing there. We were in the rest room. We walked out. I literally turned like this, and he is sanding right there, with this rifle. He is getting ready to put the bullets in it and he starts shooting. He is walking towards the tent where we were working. My boss, her husband, they both got shot. Theyre in the hospital right now. Theyre in surgery. I have no idea whats going on with them, their little boy. My granddaughter was in the tent. My granddaughter is 10. She grabbed him him under the box. She said i saw him. He looked at me and started to come that way. I just hid under the box. I didnt know what to do. What an absolutely horrific thing for that 10yearold granddaughter to see. Sheryl says her granddaughter is at home safe, sleeping right now. She said she didnt say anything because she couldnt stop crying, but she is at home safe. She is going to check on her tonight. But sheryl said that she had come here to the press conference to learn more to this Reunification Center so she could talk to people. She cant process what happened. She had come here to keep learning more what had happened tonight and to make sense of ate all. Back to you. Stunning to hear that womans description. Thank you r, lili. That she literally saw d its face. You can hear the shock in her voice. We had someone earlier tonight, saying she was celebrated from her two sons. They walked for 45 minutes across toward 101 where the gilroy Outlet Centers were, taking an uber. Imagine that little girl having to hold that little boy to hide underneath a box. Thats harrowing. You just dont expect it to happen at the gilroy garlic festival. Its been going on since 1979. Who in the bay area doesnt know about the garlic gilroy festival and know its one of the happiest things. We were talking about it on the news on friday about all the things they were going to be doing. People come from all over the bay area, all over Central California for this. Its a big foodie gathering and a community gathering. Lets show you some of the numbers about this. This is a start in the late 1970s. This was the 41st year. The final day. About 80,000 people attend this each year. Its right there at Christmas Hill park in gilroy, which is right next to Gilroy High School. About 100 vendor booths. And really, we say its a community event. It really is. This is for charity. The tickets, 50 to 75 i believe. All volunteers. Most of the money goes right to charities. This is really their family homecoming and the reunion that all of us get to share. So many different things. How it unfolded is really complicated, because through the gates that people went hea from saying that that shooter entered through a rear location from the creek, cut through a fence into a parking lot, and then at some point was confronted by police. Piecing this all together for us is our chris chmura. Youve been getting all the information from all the different Information Sources that youve been getting, and you put together a comprehensive breakdown of how this unfolded. Were going to take two different snapshots of this. First, a wider view to give you the lay of the land. First and foremost, this is where the shooting took place here, Christmas Hill park. This is high school about 9 10 of a mile away. Thatshe command police post is. This is where the Reunification Center is lo place, even this le in the evening. Lets zoom in to where the festival is taking place. Walk you through how the shooter or shooters got through. This is the google map. Here is Christmas Hill park. Weve heard a lot about the creek. This is the creek right here. The police chief was talking about the creek and a parking lot right next to it. This is a parking lot right here. So if were taking what the police chief saying and putting it together, it sounds like the shooter or shooters somehow managed to get through that creek, through the fence they cut through or whatever they did to get through it, into this parking structure right here. This is the amphitheater down here. Thats the amphitheater. This is the one, the larger one to the south. Were not exactly sure where on this map the shooting took place. What i can tell you, though, the distance from this area down here, the parking lot, all the way over to the other side is not very far. It is actually a pretty quaint and i would say intimate festival. Whatever is happening down here can be heard and can be understood on this side over here. No matter what is going on, especially if its gunshots. The other thing i can tell n away from wherever this guy or guys came through over or through the creek and then through the fence into the parking area, we do know there was a police setup right here as well as a checkpoint over here as well. Thats according to the map that they have for the festival on its app. So there definitely was a Police Presence there. The police chief said that his officers were able to return fire and knock down at least one of the two within about a minute. Perhaps thats why, because they were central live located. These are the two ends of the festival. Youve got police right smack in the middle. I can tell you there are five different gates located all around here that works to their advantage going in. If youre one of the people inside trying to get out, that seemed to work to peoples disadvantage. The other big disadvantage here, and you can see it based on the map is there is now a manhunt going on, and this gets very rural very fast. You can see there is virtually nothing on the map here. If this were an aerial map, that would all be green. Of places for the police and the other agents who are on the ground to search. I can tell you real quick, talking about another map. Lets run through the hospitals. Raj was mentioning this earlier, the wide distances in the hospitals and the medical centers treating people. Perhaps that speaks to the severity of the wounds. Down in gilroy, some of the numbers are in flux. There are six gunshot victims down there at st. Louise. Two wound up at Santa Clara Medical center where they ended up with seven gunshot victims. And we see reports of two gunshot victims at stanford with unknown conditions at this point. Some of the numbers might be in flux. The other number by the way is and not to discount their ay, running for and some have been released from their lives. F the wounds that people had to be transported so far away and so far north and trying to deal with those gunshot wounds. But again, back to whats happening right this second. This manhunt thats under way. Not to give away tactical information. But what i can tell you is based on what were seeing is there are Police Officers everywhere. And when they say stay away, you really do want to stay away. Back to you guy. Very good information, chris. Especially the mapping system there. And its right next to Gilroy High School. Its interesting because right behind us chris is saying its rural. But to the right of it, toward 101, there is a big neighborhood there. And people were going into houses, seeking solace and seeking safety. So behind it rural, in front that neighborhood. Thats a lot of people there. Well, weve been hearing one of the things we heard is as people were being shot, people were loading people on to golf carts and trying to get them out of the gates themselves to try to get them to the medical personnel as theyarri. Whether medical personnel or the regular person trying to help people in this horrible situation. Among the volunteers and people working at the booths and the various people assisting there, a lot of them speaking to our reporters and our producers and photographers. Lets bring in nbc bay areas Terry Mcsweeney. You were here as this all happened around 5 40. You seen a lot and heard a lot of the stories including one of the workers at the festival. This is ryan wallace. He said he and his coworkers were in a really good mood. Half an hour away from wrapping up a terrific three days at the gilroy garlic festival. Then the gunfire erupted, and he found himself grabbing children in danger and running for his life. It was horrifying. Reporter ryan wallace was part of a crew from auburn, california, running rock climbing equipment for children. He thought the fist shots were fireworks. [ gunshots ] then h spotted the gunman. He had a vest on. Had a longsleeved tactical shirt, cargo pants, boots. He was ready to do some damage. He just rose his gun up and started spraying out the crowd all around. Reporter but wallace couldnt just run from danger. He felt responsible for all the kids stuck on the climbing equipment. We had half of them up there. So i was pulling them out, trying to get them out and run. Things kicked in, get the kids out, be safe. Thats all i could really think of doing. Reporter the chaos unfolded so quickly. Burned into wallaces memory tonight, horrifying images of some of the victims. I watched two watched two kids get hit and two others get hit. Two kids . Reporter after the mad dash out of the spray of bullet, wallace hid, along with other vendors. After that, i just hid under the trailer and waited until i was told to run. And i ran. I had a coworker run up to me and he was with a cop go, weve got the get into the modelo trailer. In the aftermath of the chaos, shock, disbelief and a struggle to come to terms with what just happened. Now im just kind of trying to decipher everything in my head. Reporter what do you do now . Have your friends, decompression, make sure you have your loved ones. Reporter the four kids who were shot at the climbing wall were between 6 and 8 years of age. He doesnt know their conditions tonight. Terry, thank you. Its hard to us to watch our Community Members and friends and family members go through this, but especially if you were witnessing and part of all this. And taupe see children. Youre never going to forget that. This is not just of course a regional story or local story. This has made its way to the white house. In fact, shortly after this happened, around 11 00 eastern, so 8 00 our time, President Trump tweeted this. Law enforcement is at the scene of the shootings in gilroy. Reports are that the shooter has not yet been apprehended, but we do know the shooter has been apprehended, shot and killed. Senator kamala harris, a former prosecutor herself tweeted simply horrific. Im grateful to the First Responders who were on the scene in gilroy. My thoughts are with that community. Tonight our country has a gun violence epidemic that we cannot tolerate. Kamala harris obviously run fog interest white house herself. But she has a long history and involvement with fighting against gun violence. And this was one of her big platforms when she was here as a District Attorney in san francisco. And what stands out in my head, and probably yours as well, probably everyone watching is that 6yearold boy, Steven Romero who was killed by this gunman at the gilroy garlic festival. His parents, he was with his mother and grandmother, down at the garlic festival. His father speaking with us saying the little boy passed and they were having a great time at the festival. There is a photo of him. I dont think i can get this photo out of my head. He is such a cute little boy, lives in san jose. He is one of three people shot dead from the gunman. We do know the gunman did access the garlic festival through a perimeter fence because there were metal detectors in place at all the front entrances. Now, if youre just joining us, we want the get you up to speed about whats happening. Lets show you the live Police Presence still outside at the gilroy garlic festival. We are talking about hundreds of Police Officers, federal agents, atf agents there, because at around 5 41 this evening, a man opened fire on that Christmas Hill park. This is what we know. Three people are dead, including one 6yearold boy. 15 others hurt. There are various hospitals throughout the bay area, st. Louise, sanford, and Santa Clara Valley medical center. Police have told us that the shooter is dead, but theyre actively looking around that area because there is the potential, the potential that a second person may have been somehow involved. And dont know park. Sadly, weve been through the is hiding near that shootings, Mass Shootings so many times in other parts of the state or country, but now its happening in our own backyard. We will remind ourselves of the various agencies involved, what the fbis role is, what the atfs role is, the sheriff and the local police department. Lets bring in Stephen Stock, one of our Senior Investigative reporters with some information and background. Stephen, what do you have for us . Raj, weve been talking to several different Law Enforcement sources over the last several hours, and all of them tell our Investigative Unit that this remains a very fluid situation, and is changing moment by moment. Well get to that possible second suspect in a minute. We can tell you that according to my sources, the suspect who was killed by the officers there while in the act of this mass shooting is, quote, unknown to federal Law Enforcement first quarters. Thats what has them scrambling favros piece, there was a massive federal Law Enforcement response and presence in gilroys, not just state and local officers. My sources tell me in addition to very top fbi officials from around the area there, specialists from alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives, atf are also on the scene. They have recovered at least one weapon, a long board gun. Thats a rifle or a shotgun. As well as shell casings used by the suspected gunman. The feds are already using their high technologies and their sources to trace that weapon and the ballistics on the casings of those bullets and the casings from the shells. I have also learned that fbi counterintelligence officers are working this case. And heres what we know so far. A federal Law Enforcement command post has been set up in addition to local Police Command center. Fbis s. W. A. T. Team is on the scene. Plus, those atf specialists, the main focus for them right now as far as the federal sources tell me is to help protect and preserve evidence, including the immediate tracing of that gun and any ballistics which is already started, according to my sources. Counterintelligence agents are also already checking the background of the suspect to see if he has any ties whatsoever to either domestic or foreign hate or terrorist groups. Now i got to caution, this is standard procedure in cases like this. There is no connection at this point. Weve done some checking on our own, however, and according to the southern poverty law center, which tracks these hate groups in the u. S. , there are 61 active hate groups in california with 83 different chapter, including many right here in northern california. Now to reiterate, there is no indication that the gunman was tied to any one of these, at least right now. This is standard federal Law Enforcement and counterintelligence work. But the fact that he apparently cut through a fence, was dressed in some type of gear and may have had assistance has federal officials on high alert and looking for someone else, even as we speak. Again, they tell me, they have heard, quote, my source said weve heard of this second suspect, but they have no evidence that person exists. They also have flare and heat seeking devices in the air and on the ground. So if somebody is hiding in a creek bed or in the woods, they will see that body from the heat and infrared. According to one federal Law Enforcement source, this guy, meaning the gunman was quote not on our radar. And thats disturbing. Well stay on this. Stephen, you gave us a lot of information. Very pertinent information. Just to clarify three points here. The gunman, the suspected gunman unknown to federal Law Enforcement correct . Thats right. They know who he is. They checked him out. Because obviously as the police chief said that. Killed him. He engaged with officers, Police Officers. And federal agencies are already running his frichtfingerprints. They dont know who he is. He is not a known entity to them, to counterintelligence. And they found the long board rifle or the gun . They found it near the area . They found there it with him. I asked if there were other weapons, and they say there may have been, but right now they do have at least one weapon in their possession. And again, the ballistics, which theyre already rung. Weve done stories where they can trace the hammer on the ends of the guns and shell casing. Theyre running that nationwide, trying to see if there are any connections to any kind of domestic group. And witnesses described the gunman as someone in his 30s, a white male. Does that also fact check with the fbi . Thats what my sources are saying. Again, i didnt just talk to fbi sources. I talked to several different other federal sources who have asked not to be identified. They tell me that this all checked out. Again, there has been different descriptions by different witnesses. They caution that in situations like this, sometimes witnesses plain old get it wrong. Panic, a gunshot. Sure. So they could have gotten things wrong. Thats why theyre being very cautious. They have no evidence of that other than saying there may have been somebody else involved. They do believe its only one gunman actually pulling the trigger and shooting folks and he appears to have been dressed in fatigue or dressout gear is how it was described to me. What that means is he came to do some damage just to do what he did. What theyre trying to figure out at this it one lone wolf guy . To try to figure out . Or tied to some group to try to make some statement. So far there has been no evidence of that, but theyre working this right now, even as we speak. And stephen, youre saying that they have positively identified this individual. They know who he circumstances they know who he is. And they have identified him. And now theyre working to backtrack to figure out if he is linked to anyone else. Thats exactly right. Or a lone wolf. Thats righn our radar. That indicates he may be a lone wolf. That i have sources in these hate groups. S ey have connections. T person was a big mover and shaker in one of these groups. They would know him right away. Now theyre saying weve never heard of this guy before. Clearly a person who knew how to get into this area and knew the landscape. And knew it well. Knew that there was going to be security at these different checkpoints. Thats right. Around has found what was the weak point in getting to the garlic festival. This is someone who knew what they were doing. B cutting through the fence. Absolutely. And thats what disturbs these federal officials. And thats why you see this overwhelming federal response. Ive been told by several sources that very top federal folks from the west coast are there on the scene even as we speak. There are even folks who are undercover agents who were there to try and work this to see if there are any connections at all. No definitive answers but thats what theyre doing. Well know in the next 24, 48 hours and we know the president was briefed shortly after this because we saw his tweet a few hours ago. Lets bring in Marianne Favro. Stephen, stay was and keep working that. Well bring in Marianne Favro. We say this continues to be an active search. It sure is. Marianne has been on the scene for several hours and joins us now. Right near Gilroy High School at the scene of the crime. Well, the search for a second suspect continues at this hour. I want to hear you that witnesses first hear gunfire over here on this section of the gilroy garlic festival. This is right by the main entrance. But then they said about five minutes later, section of the garlic festival. We just talked to witnesses who say they spent the last five hours hunkered down inside a trailer. Well, we prayed. Yeah. We prayed a lot. I felt we were safe there, i felt that we were safe. But we had some other people, children or young adults, other volunteers come in who had seen a lot and were just terrified. Just the last hour, about 40 people were escorted by police from the gilroy garlic festival. They worked there. They were escorted out and put on to buses just like this one. Because this bus is here, that indicates to me that more people will be coming out of the festival tonight. More than five and a half hours after this active shooter began firing inside the festival. But so far we did already see 40 people leave on buses. They were taken to Relocation Centers. But now another bus has arrived. So there be more people coming out of this festival. In the meantime, whats going on as far as investigations, on the back side, we have crews out there combing near the creek, uvas creek. They are searching that back side of the park for a possible suspect. We here, boots on the street. They are actually combing the area with flashlights, looking near the marsh and the water, and also in the eucalyptus grove. We have more than 30 fbi agents who arrived here about two hours ago. They are still inside, investigating. And we have a helicopter that has been circling the area since this began. So were reporting live in gilroy, Marianne Favro, nbc bay area news. Thank you, marianne. That helicopter might have that infrared and heat seeking technology that stephen was telling us about that the police are using to see if they can find the suspect. Weve been hearing story like both witnesses that were with marianne of people leaving but weve heard very little from the victims. The one victim whose face we have seen tragically is so hard to wrap your head around is that little boy, Steven Romero. His father speaking to our janelle wang who is at st. Louis hospital. Not only did mr. Romero lose his son, but his wife and his motherinlaw, who were at the festival with little 6yearold steven, they were shot as well. Janelle wang joins us now. Janelle . Jessica, horrendous night for that family. It is. Its just unimaginable. The whole family is shocked. The dad cant believe it. His whole family shot while they were at the gilroy garlic festival. Theyve only been to the festival once before, but he never imagined this. They thought it fwlaumz fun eve event. It would be safe. He was napping with his daughter at home when he got the call at 5 30 from his wife that she had been shot. Threen shot. And his motherinlaw. They were all transported to st. Louise in gilroy. Where Steven Romero was pronounced dead. 6yearold boy. He just turned 6 this past june. They celebrated by going to legoland. Hes just in shock. How are you holding up . Whats going through your mind . I dont know what to say. My son had his whole life to live and he was only 6. Only 6 years old. A heartbreaking day for the family. He had about a dozen family and friends at the hospital with him. They were all outside supporting him and waiting to say their final goodbyes until the body was released. They all left about a half hour ago. Last we heard, his wife had two gunsho wounds to her hand, and it appears his motherinlaw may have been shot in the leg but he wasnt sure because they were transported from here to valley med in san jose pretty quickly. So he wasnt able to see them again. And theyre undergoing surgery right now. But last he heard, they will both survive their injuries. And right now they are just mourning the passing of their 6yearold son. Reporting live in gilroy at st. Louise hospital, janelle wang, nbc bay area news. While we have you, this is such a different piece of video and photo to see and hearing the fathers story. Where did they go tonight . Did he go back to the san jose area . Because we know theyre from san jose. Do we know an update on his wife and motherinlaw . Yeah, he didnt know. But from here he heard they were both going to survive their injuries. We heard grandma was going into surgery pretty soon. Thats the last we heard. We know everybody who is visiting. They were all from san jose. And when they tbout a half hour ago, we all think they were heading back north to the home in san jose, or obviously the hospital to visit his wife and the grandma, who are both in the hospital undergoing surgery for their gunshot wounds. There are Still Hospital victims here at st. Louise. There are more than a dozen originally brought here, but seven were treated and released. They suffered scrapes, bruises, basically from running and falling down when the gunfire erupted. They were treated and released with six other gunshot victims were brought here. The roms weve been mentioning. And three other gunshot victims dont know their condition, but if it was more serious, we can assume they would be brought back up to san jose to a trauma hospital. But theyre still being treated here we last heard. So thats the latest here from st. Louise. Raj, jessica . You know that that mother would have given anything to trade places with her son, the one that got shot in the head. You know mrs. Romayor woe have done anything to change spots. Thats probably what she is thinking right now. What we also heard from some of our witness accounts is there may be other children who have been shot. You havent heard anything else about the ages of the people at your hospital, janelle . , no jessica, unfortunately no hospital spokesperson has come out to speak to us to give us an update on the other victims. But of course if we get any more information we will bring it to you. But this is a family gilroy garlic festival. Its filled with families. Mo mothers and parents were grabbing their kids the shots rang out. Were still waiting to hear the identities of everything k to y. Well be on this throughout the night and into the morning. Do you remember one of the witnesses we had on to talk to us that she had grab herd daughter, the 4yearold when she came out of the trailer, that she saw a mother running with a little boy who had been shot who was bleeding. I do remember that. And also the guy who was working the rockwall. He said there were kids on the rockwall who were shot and injured. We dont know if there is going to be other children. It might have been Steven Romero. We should say than, from the spokespeople from valley med and what janelle is reporting from st. Louise and gilroy, theyre not releasing. They dont quite know the ainges, even when she said, theyre not clear about the ages right now. There might be some young people. She did say there are some young, middle aged and older people. But we dont know exactly how old everyone is. This is impacting not only us here in bay area, but throughout the state of california. The governor tweeting earlier today saying, quote, this is nothing short of horrific. Governor newsom going on to say california stands with the gilroy community. My office is monitoring the situation closely. Grateful for Law Enforcements efforts, and their continued work as the situation develops. Not just gilroy. This is obviously a regional story here in terms of the response. Obviously federal as well. The san jose eddie tweeting this. Proud to serve along our brother and sister officers from gilroy who have courageously responded to evil. Our hearts go out to all the victims in this tragedy. Sjpd patrol units special ops responded to assist the city of gilroy. And so many agencies did respond immediately. Were also hearing from industry leaders, tim cook from apple tweeting, quote, deeply saddened by the news of the shooting at the gilroy garlic festival, a beloved Community Tradition in northern california. Wishing strength and recovery to our neighbors in gilroy, the victims and their families. Much gratitude to the First Responders. As for the investigation now, it continues. They continue to search for that possible second suspect. But we do know the suspected gunman was shot and killed almost immediately within a minute. Gilroy Police Officers responded. What youre looking at now is a live picture from the gilroy garlic festival, and you know and can see it is still active. We have fbi agents there. Sheriffs deputies, Police Officers from various departments and the atf. This is all confirmed by our sources and our reporters and our Investigative Units. At least 30 fbi agents are on the scene, investigating to see what connection they have. We heard from Stephen Stock, our Investigative Unit that his sources tell him they have identified the shooter. They are now actively he was not on the federal agents radar, that they are running ballistics, they have recovered the gun. But really, the federal agencies are here, not only to figure out if this is a lone wolf, but potentially, again, were saying here what all the avenues that police and federal agents will be looking at. Is this somehow relato related c domestic terror. And many hate groups that may be in the united states. I mean, its certainly theyre raising the specter of the possibility, and those are the things theyre looking at. The Gilroy Police chief came on a little while ago just after 10 00 tonight saying you never want to see this happen in your community, and this is a nightmare that he never thought hed be at the helm at, but he is. Lets listen in. This incident tonight started at about 5 41 p. M. There railroad reports of shootings on the north side of the garlic festival area. Officers were in that area and engaged the suspects in less than a minute. The suspect was shot was shot and killed. It appears as though they had come into the festival via the creek, which borders the parking area and they used some sort of a tool through the fence to be able to gain access through the secure fence line. And thats how they got into the festival area itself. We have one suspect that we know is down. We have some witnesses reporting that there may have been a second suspect, but we dont know if that suspect was engaged in any shooting or whether they may have been in some sort of a support role for the person that we have accounted for. We have at least 15 people injured. We have four fatalities that we know of, including the suspect. That is chief Scott Smithee there from the Gilroy Police department outlining a lot of information. Key thing approach midnight, there might be a second suspect, tha right now. They did shoot and kill the gunman shortly after he opened fire. The gilroy officers responded within a minute that gunman accessed the gilroy garlic festival through cutting through a fence on the uvas river. Someone who specifically had a plan, knew the layout of the gilroy garlic festival, knew the layout of the park because they knew to avoid the entrances where there were metal detectors set up and security that was looking at peoples bags. We want to bring in our chris chmura. You have a detailed look at that Christmas Hill park and the entrances that the shooter avoided. Yeah. So i think what were doing here is were beginning to narrow down where it appears the shooting took place. And were going to use various points to get us there. First, the police chief tells us that the shooter or shooters ey came across and apparently got into a parking area. Thats down here where we put this parking icon. Marianne said earlier from her advantage point up here, she was told by people who were inside the park that the shooting was coming from her right. That would put us on this side of the park right here. On social media, weve seen were near the stage hearing the shooting on their right, which again would put it over here. Our last point is weve heard reports, and Terry Mcsweeney was reporting this earlier that there might have been a shooting taking place near the rockwall. The rockwall is located right here, where this exclamation point is. So i think weve begun to narrow down where the shooting actually took place. Thats step one. Step two is now this manhunt, and thats where this zooms out incredibly far, and again, it gets very rural, very fast. The scale here, this is about find that personht have been involved in the shooting. Thank you. In this manhunt there is heat seeking guidance here technology and infrared technology being used for this rural area. Lets bring in robert handa. And we believe we still hear the helicopters above you, robert, and it looks very accurate. Where are you exactly . Are you still next to Gilroy High School . And what are you seeing . We are still in the front of Gilroy High School, which is one of the staging areas for the Law Enforcement agencies. And of course there is a lot of them here. We are seeing vehicles. Here comes another one. They have been coming and going. It has been still a very active area. This is basically the entry point for the search. We have noticed one thing as the vehicles come and go is that the search helicopters have kind of moved their search area, they moved a little more southwest. So i dont know if that tells us that maybe theyre either expanding the area. Chris chmura made a good point which is some people here have been telling us it is a very ruscdifficult. And it is very dark out there. We mentioned earlier they were bringing in a lot of staged lighting like you see at sporting events or concerts. We saw theave not seen them set up yet. But they certainly seem prepared to do Something Like that. And we saw a few other Law Enforcement vehicles going in. We stop and talked to them and they said they were bringing the officers inside meals. There goes the sheriffs department. They were bringing them meals. So it certainly seems they were settling in for a long night of searching. It would certainly seem to be that way because when we look into the area that theyre going in and out of, it is very dark and must be getting very difficult for them to continue the search. But as we talk to one person, he says that they are going to keep on searching, even if theyre considering this a possible suspect, theyre going to treat it as though there is someone they were looking for. The initial description was a white male on the run somewhere in the area. Andheo keep looking so they know thats not ue reporting live in gilroy, robert handa, dark oangerous for polic if it turns out to be true that there is a suspect. If there is a person that was involved with this, Police Officers that are searching in the dark that are hampered by the darkness also being put in a very compromising situation. But again, Stephen Stock was saying we dont even know if there really is a second person. Its based on witness accounts that said they saw someone running. But everybody was rung. Thats what the sheriff told us. Thats what the Gilroy Police chief told us. There might be a second suspect. They will wait the suspect out if needed. They want to get him initially, but they will wait him out if needed. Our lili tan is at the Reunification Center where lots of people are going tonight. Ii wi lili people came and talked to about what they saw. Absolutely. We talked to two sisters who actually came facetoface with the gunman. They were working at a booth called the honey ladies. Shortly after 5 20 that. Had gone to use the rest room. And then when they were coming back, heard a gunshot and saw the shooter reloading his gun. They described him as an average joe, a white male between 25 and 35, wearing a brown hat, green vest and khaki colored shorts. We talked to one of the sister, canned dak marquez, and she told us more. When we went towards our booth. He was only 10, 15 feet away from us. He was loading his clip before he went to our booth. But he was shooting random. He didnt just pick that booth, he was just shooting. He wasnt trying anybody particularly, just anybody in his way, i guess. Now candace said that her boss wendy townero the owner of honey ladies as well as her husband francisco were two of the people who were shot. They are in the hospital with Critical Condition tonight. They also said candace also said that her niece saw the shooter, came facetoface with him and hid underneath the table at the booth when she saw him as well as shielding another child underneath that table. Her niece is only 10 years old. She told us that she is at home safe tonight, but she is obviously very, very upset. She couldnt stop crying because of this situation. She hasnt said much, but she couldnt stop crying but she is at home safe tonight. They are very, very very concerned about the trauma of this event. Candace and her sister sheryl low, who we heard from earlier tonight. They were here at the press conference trying to get more information and trying to process this entire event. Raj, jess, back to you. I wilili tan from gilroy. Its not only the people that are there that are marred by this for the rest of their lives, but now this festival is marked by this tragic event, a festival that we have known for 40 years that has been a symbol of fun and of the by area will now forever be remembered as the gilroy garlic festival where a mass shooting happened. July 28th here, this will go down now unfortunately in infamy here. This is the 41st year of the festival. Its for charity as the festival director of the police chief said. This is our family reunion. And no, is not just people from gilroy. Its people from all over the region. This is where we come every summer when its hot as heck outside. But we love it. Its foodies and farmers and the small community. This will give the bay area pause every time now. It will impact every person in the bay area one way or another because it is now tragically happened in our community right in our backyard. Just so you have a little bit of the numbers that are happening, the search continues tonight for what could be a second person involv iilled the shooter, a man who entered the festivalgate, cutting through, who came on to theh a were hearing 15 people were injured three, dead that we know. And tragically, one of those deaths is just a little boy, 6 years old who went to the festival today to have a good time with his mother and grandmother, a boy who will never, ever be going back home. 6yearold steven romayor hoe roe from san jose with his mom and grandma will not go home. The gunman was shot and killed shortly after opening fire there. He is unknown to federal Law Enforcement. This according to our Investigative Unit, meaning they have identified him, but he is not on any database from what they know of at this point. So he is unknown. So perhaps its a lone wolf. They did recover the long board the scene i be, there might be, in ,and this is continuing the night. And again, we mentioned theyll just wait him out if they have to. But it is a rural and