On Monday, more details emerged about the victims and gunman in a shooting that turned the closing hours of the Gilroy Garlic Festival — usually a time for locals to reconnect and for tourists to get a taste of a unique tradition — into a scene of chaos and panic.
As has become routine in mass shootings, details trickled out in the hours that followed the first, often confusing, reports. Here’s a quick update on what we’ve learned.
The Victims
Three people were killed and 12 were injured in the shooting, which authorities said Monday would have been more deadly had officers not responded in less than a minute.
Two children were among the dead: Stephen Romero, a 6-year-old from San Jose, California, who was remembered as a sweet, playful boy. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that his uncle called him “El Romantico,” because of his polished manners, penchant for pressed shirts and cologne, and his love of music by The Weeknd.
Multiple outlets reported that the Santa Clara County coroner’s office identified the second child as Keyla Salazar, 13. According to The Mercury News, she was anticipating turning 14 and hoped to become an animator.
The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle reported that the president of Keuka College confirmed that Trevor Irby, 25, was the third person killed. He was a biology major who graduated from the school in the Finger Lakes region of New York a couple of years ago.
The Gunman
Gilroy authorities identified the gunman, who was killed by police not long after he started shooting, as Santino William Legan, a 19-year-old resident of the town.
Police said that Legan’s motive was still unknown and that the targets appeared to be random — although officials said it was too early in the investigation to say for sure.
Separately, Chief Scot Smithee of the Gilroy Police Department said a 20-year-old man was taken into custody. But authorities said they determined he wasn’t involved in the shooting.
The Weapon
Authorities said it was a semi-automatic rifle that Legan had purchased legally in Nevada.
Although California’s gun laws are among the strictest in the nation, some experts say the situation highlights how those rules could be undermined by more lax regulation in neighboring states.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.