Family of Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting suspect releases statement

The family of 19-year-old Santino William Legan, the suspect in the Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting, has released a statement.

This comes as the FBI opens a domestic terrorism investigation into the shooting.

Legan’s family said:

“Our family is deeply shocked and horrified by the actions of our son. To the families of Stephen Romero, Keyla Salazar, Trevor Irby, and to the injured that survived this tragedy, we cannot begin to describe our despair at his actions. We want to express our deepest and sincerest apologies for the loss and pain that he has caused.

We have never and would never condone the hateful thoughts and ideologies that led to this event, and it is impossible to reconcile this with the son we thought we knew. Our son is gone, and we will forever have unanswered questions as to how or why any of this has happened.

We are heartbroken that he committed this violence in his hometown, at a family event meant to celebrate the tight knit community we have been a part of for twenty years.

Every single member of our family has cooperated with the investigation and will continue to cooperate.

We also want to thank all of our friends in the community, and people we have never met, who have sent us messages of support and compassion for what has occurred. Thanks to all of you.

To the City of Gilroy and to everyone affected, we are tremendously sorry. No words can begin to express this.”

– the Legan family