Houston police say that a security guard and others were injected with syringes by Travis Scott during his Astroworld Festival performance Friday night. The festival saw at least eight deaths and many more injuries while Scott was performing onstage.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner announced that although the death of one victim was not yet known, it was confirmed at a press conference on Saturday afternoon. Other victims included 14, 16, 21, 21, 22, 23, 23 and 27, among others. The cause of the deaths was not immediately known.
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Turner confirmed that 25 others were also admitted, including several children.
Houston Police Chief Troy Finner stated that his department had 528 officers present on the scene, along with 755 additional security officers from Live Nation.
Although he acknowledged that there were many narratives about what occurred at the event, he encouraged people to "follow the facts" and not just the evidence.
Travis Scott, a rapper, performs onstage at Astroworld Music Festival in Houston. This was a "mass casualty accident" following a fatal crowd surge. Getty Images
However, he did state that authorities had obtained a statement by a security guard indicating that the guard felt a pinch in his neck. Medical staff also agreed that a mark on his skin was indicative of such an event.
He said that there were "some individuals that were trampled" and that they wanted to be respectful of that. He also noted that Live Nation had been cooperative and would provide video footage from the event to authorities Saturday evening.
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He stated, "This is now an investigation into criminality that will involve our homicide and narcotics divisions." "And we're going get to the bottom."
Authorities reported that 25 arrests were made on Friday. Authorities said that 23 were arrested for trespassing; one for public intoxication, and one for possessing marijuana.
Multiple people received Narcan, including the security guard who felt a pinched nerve in his neck. However, it was not known how many were treated.
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Samuel Pea, Houston fire chief, spoke next. He explained that his team would be looking into permits and making sure that the submitted plan was followed during the event.
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Pea expressed appreciation for his team's "robust and incredible" response to the incident. He explained that there was no permit required to hold an outdoor event and that this meant that the number of people attending was not regulated by law.
He stated that there could have been more than 200,000 people in the area, however the outdoor venue kept the attendance at 50,000 at the festival.
He stated that injuries didn't occur when people tried to leave the venue, and that doors were open according to the plan.
Pea stated that they are investigating the causes of the crowd surge and the factors that led to it. Pea said that inspectors were present to inspect pyrotechnics tents and doors.
Finner answered questions from reporters who were present at the conference. He stated that they were notified of people "going down" at 9:30 p.m. and that the event was finished by 10:10 pm.
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One reporter inquired about the cause of the delay of 40 minutes. Finner said it was due to the large and elderly crowd. He also stated that they needed to be careful not incite a riot. Finner admitted that even if his timeline was wrong, another journalist claimed to have been present at the concert.
He confirmed that a 10-year old child was in critical condition at the moment, but did not provide any further details.
Currently, autopsies and toxicology reports are being done on the dead.
A local news outlet reported that one of the victims was a freshman from Memorial High School in Houston.
Scott, aged 29, issued a statement Saturday morning, stating that he was "absolutely devastated by the disaster".
According to a source, the musician was in tears after learning what was happening.
The insider said that he was really upset and didn't know what was happening. He was performing onstage." "He's so upset, I have never seen him behave like that."
Fox News received a statement from Live Nation on Saturday, which previously stated that it would cooperate fully in the investigation.
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The company sent an email saying that it was "heartbroken for the lost and impacted at Astroworld last evening." "We will continue to work to provide as much information as possible to local authorities as they investigate this situation."
This report was contributed by Jessica Napoli, Fox News.
