Santino Legan: Suspected California garlic festival shooter was teenager with legal AK47-style gun and hate-filled social media account

Instagram page appearing to belong to teen suspect featured hate-filled content and a picture of the Gilroy Garlic Festival

Police identified a 19-year-old suspect who officials said was the gunman behind a mass shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival on Sunday that left three victims dead and 12 others wounded.

Santino William Legan was believed to be the gunman who opened fire at the popular annual event in Northern California, police said at a press conference on Monday. The teen was killed after engaging officers with an “AK47 type” rifle, according to Chief Scot Smithee of the Gilroy Police Department.

The teen appeared to have an Instagram account with hate-filled posts that were removed by the social media platform shortly after the shooting. The account was not accessible by Monday afternoon.

The shooting erupted on Sunday evening as crowds began to disperse from the event, which typically brings between 80,000 to 100,000 people to the town most-known for its garlic production.

Victims included a six-year-old boy named Stephen Romero, as well as a 13-year-old girl and another male in their 20s. Police did not immediately identify the two other victims, but confirmed media reports indicating the six-year-old — who had just celebrated his birthday last month — was among those killed in the latest American mass shooting.

Federal officials said Monday an investigation into the suspect’s motive would require a “very prolonged and complicated process.”

Police also said “it seems this was a random act, but we’ve got a long way to go” at Monday’s press conference.

They also said the suspect had legally purchased the assault-style weapon in Nevada earlier this month.

An Instagram page appearing to belong to the deceased suspect showed a photo of the sprawling field where the Gilroy Garlic Festival was held.

“Ayyy garlic festival time,” a caption accompanying the post read. “Come get wasted on overpriced s***”.

Police did not confirm whether the Instagram account in question belonged to the suspect they said was responsible for the deadly shooting.

Other posts encouraged viewers to read Might is Right by Ragnar Redbeard, a manifesto on social Darwinism filled with anti-Semitic, white supremacist and misogynistic content.