Multiple victims as shooter opens fire at US food festival

Agents from the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are responding to the scene of a shooting at an annual food festival in northern California.

At least five people were shot on Sunday at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, a hospital spokeswoman says.

Santa Clara Valley Medical Center spokeswoman Joy Alexiou says the hospital has received two victims from the shooting and expects three more. She had no information on their conditions.

Video first posted on social media sites about an hour ago showed people running for safety at the festival.

The Gilroy Police Department on its Twitter account issued a statement saying: "The hearts of Gilroy PD and entire community go out to the victims of today's shooting at the Garlic Festival. The scene is still active. If you are looking for a loved one, please go to the reunification center at Gavilan College at parking lot B."

The festival is a nationally known three-day event that attracts thousands of garlic lovers. Sunday was the final day of the festival.

Witnesses described the confusion and panic at the scene, the Mercury News reported.

Evenny Reyes of Gilroy, 13, told the newspaper that spent the day at the Gilroy Garlic Festival with her friends and relatives.

"We were just leaving and we saw a guy with a bandana wrapped around his leg because he got shot. And there were people on the ground, crying," Reyes said. "There was a little kid hurt on the ground.

People were throwing tables and cutting fences to get out."

Reyes told the Mercury News that she didn't run at first because the gunshots sounded like fireworks. "It started going for five minutes, maybe three. It was like the movies — everyone was crying, people were screaming."

Todd Jones, a sound engineer, told the newspaper that he was at the front of the festival's Vineyard stage when he heard what sounded like a firework. "But then it started to increase, more rapidly, which sounded more like gunfire, and at that point people realised what was happening," Jones said.