A search of the Gilroy shooter’s Nevada home turned up white supremacist and radical Islam reading material, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. Additionally, the authorities found evidence of a “massive attack,” a gas mask, bulletproof vest and empty boxes of ammunition. There were no details about the reading materials,
The search of the apartment in the desolate town of Walker Lake, in Mineral County, also turned up a knife, a gun light, a camouflage backpack, gun pamphlets, computers and numerous electronic hard drives, an empty bottle of Valium, and a mysterious letter from “Virginia to Santino,” apparently referring to 19-year-old gunman Santino William Legan, according to copies of a search warrant released Tuesday.
The extremist reading materials were not listed among the items found during the early Monday search, but a federal law enforcement official told The Chronicle they were among paper items collected from the unit. The source was not authorized to speak to the media and asked to remain anonymous.
“We continue to try to understand who the shooter was, what motivated him, and whether he was aligned with any particular ideology,” said Craig Fair, a deputy special agent with the FBI.
Authorities also found a shotgun in the shooter’s vehicle. Both the shotgun, as well as the weapon used in the shooting, a WASR-10 semiautomatic rifle were purchased legally in Nevada but brought into California illegally.
Currently, authorities are searching for information related to the gunman’s online presence to get a better grasp on his motivation but evidence is scarce.
“Reviewing digital media, historically, has been very revealing in terms of somebody’s mind-set, ideological beliefs, intentions,” Fair said. “We’ve got to get into the computers, the towers, the thumb drive, the phone, to get a holistic picture of him and who he was in touch with, what sentiments and thoughts he shared with others, what he cataloged for his own consumption.”
Neighbors and family didn’t have anything extraordinary to say about the shooter other than describing
In interviews with investigators, one of Legan’s brothers said Legan was a loner and in the days before the shooting he gave away pieces of property to people, according to a federal law enforcement source.
As in Walker Lake, Legan did not seem to make much of an impression in Gilroy or Watsonville, where people who went to school with him said they could barely recall his name or face.
At least seven gunshot victim remain hospitalized.
(Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)