At least one security guard may have been drugged as a stampede broke out at the Astroworld Music Festival, leaving eight dead and dozens injured, police said. The investigation into the incident is ongoing.
At a Saturday press conference, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner suggested that Friday night’s events were even more chaotic than originally thought, saying at least one security guard reported being pricked in the neck with something, possibly a needle, while he was trying to restrain another person at the Travis Scott concert.
The security guard passed out after feeling the prick in his neck, and medical personnel later used Narcan to revive him, which is typically used to help in overdoses and reverse the effects of fentanyl poisoning.
“They administered Narcan and he was revived and the medical staff did notice a prick that was similar to a prick that you would get if somebody tried to inject,” Finner said. There could also be others who were injected, he said.
The police chief said the investigation is ongoing. Around 25 people have been arrested, the majority of them for trespassing. One person was arrested for having marijuana on them, and another for public intoxication. Police said they will review footage from the night taken by Live Nation. There were over 1,000 people providing security at the festival between police officers and private security.
The eight people who died amid the chaos, some of which was captured in shocking videos and photos, were between the ages of 14 and 27, police revealed. Among the eight, two were minors. Around 300 people have been treated for injuries.
Houston Police Executive Assistant Chief Lt. Larry Satterwhite reported that the tragedy unfolded “over the course of a few minutes,” and that several people appeared to have simultaneously suffered “some type of cardiac arrest or some type of medical episode.”
The tragic events of the night have led to outrage, with critics increasingly pointing to rapper Travis Scott and the concert’s organizers as being at least partly responsible for the massive crowd and the concert continuing while people were injured – though Scott did eventually end his set.
I can’t wait to hear the excuses Travis Scott is going to have about him and his staff and the people working astroworld about how they didn’t stop the show when people are pleading for them to stop the show because people were literally dead. pic.twitter.com/uJokLbUSTA
Disturbing videos show fans desperately telling Travis Scott to stop the show at Astroworld Festival. https://t.co/dspJyF9zpq
One video which was widely shared on social media shows a woman telling a camera operator that the show must be stopped as someone is dead. The camera operator appears to ignore the woman as he continues taping the show.
Scott released a statement on Saturday, saying he is “devastated” by what happened.
pic.twitter.com/ijXKslw7E2
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