This archive report was first published on 3 August 2019.
On August 4, 2019, a gunman's deadly rampage at the 41st annual Gilroy Garlic Festival in California came to an end when he fatally shot himself after exchanging gunfire with police officers, authorities said, revising their initial account.
The Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner's office preliminarily ruled his death a suicide, contradicting the initial statement that the officers had killed him.
Chief Scot Smithee of the Gilroy Police Department stated at a news conference, 'In my mind, it changes nothing. The officers still got there fast, they engaged him fast, they drew his fire and they eliminated the threat. Whether he fired that final shot or not, in my mind changes nothing.'
According to Chief Smithee, three officers had fired at the gunman on Sunday, striking him multiple times, and they probably had not even known he had shot himself.
The authorities have yet to identify a motive for the shooting, with John F. Bennett, the F.B.I. special agent in charge in San Francisco, stating at a news conference on Thursday, 'We still do not have a firm grasp of ideology.'
The F.B.I. is currently combing through social media posts and interviewing the gunman's family members and friends, Mr. Bennett said.
The gunman used a semiautomatic rifle, which the authorities described as having been purchased legally in Nevada but would have been illegal to purchase in California. California's Attorney General, Xavier Becerra, stated that it was also illegal to bring the gun into the state.
