Nearly 20 Individuals Injured and 3 Killed by Gunman at Garlic Festival in Gilroy

A 19 year old individual identified as Santino William Legan cut through a fence at the Gilroy Garlic Festival on Sunday, July 28th, 2019, and began opening fire on the crowd that was gathered. The man brought in a rifle and appeared to target random individuals; he fired for about a minute before getting shot by police and dying at the scene. Legan injured at least 18 individuals and killed 3 of them, one of whom was a young boy, 6 years old. Individuals at the scene reported possibly seeing a second suspect, but after hours of hunting, police have come up with no leads. The motive for the shooting remains unclear at this point.

Festivals and Liability for Injuries

The Gilroy Garlic Festival, a festival celebrating garlic and hosting numerous bands and live acts, can be held partially liable for the injuries of individuals who were hurt in the shooting. The full blame lies on Legan for carrying out such a horrific act, but more could have been done to prevent the shooting from happening in the first place.

Lack of Sufficient Security

Security is one of the most short-staffed aspects of festivals. Often, security guards are only present at key areas – concert stages, entrances and exits, parking lots, food areas, and rest areas. They seldom patrol the perimeter and they are almost never outside of the festival grounds ensuring that no one sneaks in. The lack of additional security around the festival may have contributed to the ease with which Legan entered the festival.

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Legan cut through a fence that was near a creek; the lack of security in the area meant that the festival organizers did not think that such an act could occur and thus did not station security guards in these areas. Without proper monitoring of the surrounding area, festivals are very dangerous and anyone can seemingly enter. Once a high-risk individual enters the festival grounds, the results can be devastating. If the festival had provided twice as much security or allocated the amount of money into the budget, it could have had a better system in place to protect those in attendance. The police chief stated that security was tight, but that there were no security cameras in place. This is yet another area that could have been improved. If there are no cameras set up to detect anyone coming into the festival, there is no way to prepare for such a situation, and the people inside will be helpless and the security guards will not have time to react.

Failure to Inspect for Weapons

Although Legan was not a festival-goer and did not have a ticket, the methods used by security guards and staff members to check for weapons is courteous at best and ignorant at worst. Many people waiting in line are simply patted down with no real inspection in any pockets or potentially hidden areas. Their bags are not thoroughly searched and they are not made to undergo any additional screening. Part of this is due to the time frame in which people must be ushered through the entrance. Staff wants to ensure a speedy and efficient process to get people through the doors or gates, and meticulously checking each person for weapons is, to them, unnecessary and wasteful of time. The inability or refusal to thoroughly inspect for weapons is a key reason many people can smuggle whatever they wish into festivals. The Garlic Festival did have metal detectors, but many individuals are able to proceed through with various weapons regardless.

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Failure to Provide Adequate Exit Points

Festivals are generally gated or fenced off to ensure that no random individuals or those who did not purchase tickets can enter. The trouble with this is that there are fewer exit points for individuals to flee to if there are any accidents or dire situations. Small exit points are meant to provide a controlled flow of traffic so that there are no overwhelming numbers and every can efficiently get back to the parking lot or outside of the festival grounds to leave. However, if these exit points are only at the front of the festival and the rear, this is a major issue. As a result, attendants can get stuck and trapped, which is dangerous if there are gunmen or other attackers in the vicinity. Festival organizers should purposely set up exit points at certain intervals to guarantee that all people in the festival can immediately leave if necessary. These exit points should also be guarded by security to ensure that nobody from the outside can enter and to see any threats before they get into the festival itself.

Legal Action for Injuries at a Festival

The Gilroy Garlic Festival can be held accountable for injuries due to the issues mentioned above. The festival had a duty to protect its customers and it failed in providing that protection. If you choose to file a lawsuit, you must be able to show that you were owed a duty of care that was breached, and that breach of duty led to an incident that resulted in physical harm. You can choose to sue for injuries you suffered or on behalf of a loved one who passed away in the incident. You can earn the following types of compensation for your losses:

• Medical expenses for past and future treatments, surgery, hospitalization, medication, physical therapy, and more
• Lost income if you could not go to work or if you cannot go to your job in the future because of injuries and recovery time
• Property damage if your personal items were lost or broken in the incident
• Pain and suffering damages to cover PTSD, fear, anxiety, psychological trauma, and more
• Wrongful death expenses for funeral and burial fees, pre-death medical bills and pain and suffering, loss of consortium, loss of expected inheritance and savings, and more

Numerous individuals who were injured can choose to file a class action lawsuit against the festival. This will use the collective proof of numerous plaintiffs and will allow multiple people to sue under one entity. The upside is that the abundance of evidence will work in your favor; the downside is that the settlement or verdict will be evenly spread out among the plaintiffs. Whether you elect to file a personal injury claim or join a class action lawsuit against the Gilroy Garlic Festival, you can call our firm at (855) 339-8879 for more assistance.

Why Choose Us

The Downtown LA Law Group is one of the leading law firms in the state. We know the best tactics to winning your claim and we will aggressively pursue every penny you deserve. We have years of combined experience handling lawsuits against festivals and concerts that have had individuals suffer injuries. We put your health and security at the top of our priorities list and we will not stop fighting for your rightful settlement until we are satisfied with the result. Our highly rated attorneys have won hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation for festival victims, ad we treat every client like family. Call our law firm at (855) 339-8879 today for a free legal consultation to discuss your case. You will have the ability to ask any questions you wish and we will tell you what we will do to win your claim. You should have peace of mind when pursuing legal action and we make sure of that. Further, if you wish to hire us to represent you for your case, we will give you our zero fee guarantee. This promises that you won’t have to spend a dime of your own money throughout the case. We will cover all the expenses and will only get paid if we win; the money will come out of the settlement taken from the insurance company. If we lose, we take nothing at all, and you won’t owe us a dime. If you or a loved one were injured at the shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, contact the Downtown LA Law Group immediately to take legal action.