Post Gilroy, Santa Cruz Police Chief: 'Warriors Are Necessary'

SANTA CRUZ, CA — As Gilroy police and the FBI continue the process of returning personal items to visitors who fled the Gilroy Garlic Festival during Sunday's shooting that killed three people — including a man who only recently relocated to Santa Cruz from New York — local Police Chief Andrew Mills wants to assure his residents that officers here are trained to prevent and respond to mass casualty events.

Mills released a statement Thursday:

Many citizens wonder what the Santa Cruz police are doing to prevent or respond to mass casualty events such as an active shooter. We want our community to know that over the years, SCPD has trained and is well prepared to respond to active shooters. We study, debrief, and prepare for these events. Our officers are equipped physically, intellectually, and operationally to respond immediately to the threat, engage the person(s) and end the violence. SCPD is able to switch from guardian to warrior instantly. Tactical metamorphosis is essential in our gun laden, mental health impacted society.

SCPD practices with our local partners to ensure the highest possible interoperability and capability when responding to an incident. Our law enforcement efforts are fully integrated with the life-saving protocols of SCFD and EMS. Policing is chock full of men and women who live a life of valor and are ready, willing and able to respond.

More importantly, SCPD has created and formalized a protocol for interrupting those people intent on killing others. Our Mass Casualty Threat Assessment Tool has been used and is continuing to guide our steps. This tool created by Santa Cruz police officers is the first of its kind for local law enforcement. The Mass Casualty Threat Assessment tool is a mixture of academia, historical data points, and good old fashion investigative experience. The tool has already proven successful here in Santa Cruz.

The Threat Assessment tool is useless without you. Many shooters tip or leak their intent on social media, loose talk among friends, or through pre-operational behavior such as probing likely targets. If you see something that concerns you, you must say something to the police! You can report tips to THREATS@cityofsantacruz.com. #SeeSomething, Say Something!

Through the Threats email mechanism, you can submit URL’s, screenshots, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts of concern. However, if an attack is imminent, you must call 911. Please, don’t be the person who could have prevented a mass shooting, but kept silent because you did not want to get a friend in trouble. #SeeSomethingSaySomething!

Be assured that SCPD is taking appropriate precautions for local events. We carefully examine each event and examine the likelihood of a mass casualty incident. Once we have made a determination as to the safety of the event, operational plans are put into place and personnel is deployed when needed. You may or may not see our preparations, but when needed, Santa Cruz Police Officers stand ready, willing and able to protect you and your loved ones.

The Gilroy tragedy hit close to home. Trevor Irby of Santa Cruz was killed in the shooting. The 25-year-old had just moved to the area from New York, and was with his girlfriend, Sarah, when the shooting began. Also killed were 6-year-old Stephen Romero and 13-year-old Keyla Salazar, both of San Jose. About a dozen people were injured, including two friends from Santa Cruz County: Santa Cruz resident Brynn Ota-Mathews and Scotts Valley resident Gabriella Gaus.

The 19-year-old gunman, Santino William Legan, was killed by police gunfire.