GILROY — Four people were killed, including a suspected gunman, and 15 injured in a mass shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival on Sunday night, authorities said.
A second suspect might have been involved and has not been apprehended, authorities said at a press conference. Residents who live near Christmas Hill Park, where the festival was staged, have been urged to stay indoors while police search for the potential suspect.
There were hundreds of people in the audience when the shooting erupted after 5:30 p.m., according to a group of musicians who were performing at the end of the three-day festival that attracts 100,000 attendees each year.
One member of the classic rock band TinMan told KCBS Radio that he saw a gunman dressed in green with what appeared to be an assault rifle. A sound technician said that he saw dirt flying as bullets struck the ground.
Police stopped the gunman less than a minute after the shooting started, authorities said. That suspect was killed by gunfire, police said.
A group of teenagers told KCBS Radio's Betsy Gebhart that they saw two men tackle the suspected gunman.
Police believe that the shooter entered the festival by cutting a hole through a fence and crossing a creek. There were metal detectors at the entrance gates.
"To have seen this event end this way this day is one of the most tragic and sad things that I ever had to see," said Brian Bowe, executive director of the festival. "And we all feel so upset."
Some gunshot victims were transported to hospitals in Gilroy and San Jose.
The garlic festival started in 1978.