U.S. Rep. Tom Reed P-J file photo

One of the victims of the California festival shooting this past weekend was a resident of the 23rd New York State Congressional District.

On Tuesday, Rep. Tom Reed, R-Corning, started his weekly conference call with regional media by having a moment of silence and sending condolences to the family and friends of Trevor Irby, who was one of three victims during the shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival Sunday.

Reed said Irby, 25, of Romulus was an alma mater of Keuka College. He was a biology major who graduated in 2017.

“The tragic shooting (involved) a former resident from our district,” Reed said. “The situation in California is another tragedy. (Politicians need to get on) common ground to take on issues of mental health and gun violence.”

Irby and his girlfriend were at the Gilroy Garlic Festival on Sunday — the last day of the three-day event — when suspected gunman Santino William Legen set upon them and other attendees with an “AK-47 type assault rifle,” according to police.

The 19-year-old allegedly shot Irby and 17 others before being killed by police. Irby and two other victims — a 6-year-old boy and 13-year-old girl — died and the other victims were hospitalized in fair to critical condition.

When asked about shootings like the one at the California festival this past weekend, Reed said there are many issues involved in trying to curtail these tragic events.

“We have to treat mental health as a medical condition,” he said. “If we are really serious to take on this issue we have to focus on the individual and an individual’s issues causing this to occur.”

See Wednesday’s edition for more coverage.