Several People Reportedly Injured In Shooting At Gilroy Garlic Festival In California

Multiple people reportedly were injured Sunday in a shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in Gilroy, California.

At least 11 people have been transferred to area hospitals, a spokeswoman for Santa Clara Valley Medical Center said Sunday in a news conference.

The New York Times, citing city councilman Dion Bracco , reported that at least three people had died. Bracco told HuffPost he had no additional information.  

The shooting reportedly began toward the end of the final day of the festival. The Gilroy Police Department said in a statement around 7:30 p.m. local time that the “scene is still active.” 

Videos posted on social media show festivalgoers running en masse toward the exits.

One eyewitness told NBC Bay Area  that he had been leaving the event when he felt a bullet whiz past his head.

Miquita Price told the station she was with three family members at the festival when she heard shots fired.

“We hid under a utility truck,” she said. “We used that for shelter.”

She described running away from the scene with a handful of people, including one woman Price said had been “shot in the neck.”  

One of Price’s family members is still missing, she said. “I’m in front of where all the ambulances are, they are taking people and air-lifting people,” she said. “It’s crazy.”

More than a dozen ambulance and fire department units had been dispatched in response to the shooting, reported the San Francisco Chronicle, citing a Cal Fire website . 

Agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were also responding to the scene, according to The Associated Press . 

Gilroy Police said in their statement that people looking for friends and family should head to the reunification center at parking lot B at Gavilan College.

President Donald Trump tweeted about the incident Sunday evening, advising people in the area to stay safe. 

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and California Gov. Gavin Newsom also responded to the incident on Twitter. Newsom called the shooting “nothing short of horrific.”

“Tonight, [California] stands with the Gilroy community,” the governor wrote . “My office is monitoring the situation closely. Grateful for the law enforcement’s efforts and their continued work as this situation develops.”

The three-day garlic festival, which is hosted by community volunteers and held at Gilroy’s Christmas Hill Park, raises money for local schools, charities and nonprofit organizations, according to the event’s website .

Tens of thousands of food lovers flock to the town annually to attend the event.

Sanjana Karanth, Saba Hamedy and Nick Visser contributed reporting. 

This is a developing story. Please back for updates.