Police said a shooter opened fire "randomly" into a crowd at a campground in Washington State on Saturday night as people were attending a nearby music festival, leaving two people dead and three others hurt.
According to Kyle Foreman, public information officer for the Grant County Sheriff's Office, the first report of the shooting came in just before 8:30 p.m. from a camping area a short distance from the Gorge Amphitheater, where thousands of people were attending an electronic dance music festival. About 150 miles (239 kilometers) east of Seattle, close to the tiny city of George, is where you'll find The Gorge.
The suspect began moving through the campground after the first shots were fired and "continued to shoot randomly into the crowd" until he was eventually confronted by police and taken into custody, according to Foreman.
According to Foreman, the suspect was shot during the altercation with the police. Although the suspect was hospitalized for his injuries, no additional information was right away made public.
Although there had been a warning that an active shooter was nearby and that people should "run, hide, or fight," Foreman claimed that no attempt had been made to evacuate the festival. After the shooting, the festival went on as planned and didn't end until early Sunday morning, according to Foreman.
He was once more outside the property's boundaries. He was being watched by law enforcement, and they were able to keep him there. He wasn't heading in that direction, Foreman claimed.
Yazmin Alvarez, 30, told the Seattle Times that while she, her husband, and a friend were camping close to the amphitheater, a woman ran by and informed them that there was a shooter in the area.
Alvarez's group and about a dozen more people fled in that direction, taking cover behind structures by a road. As the festival continued nearby, they observed helicopter lights.
We could hear people having a good time to our left, so it just felt uneasy, Alvarez explained. The group left their camping equipment behind but returned to the campground to get their IDs and sweaters.
Foreman said more information about the victims would be made public later.
The Beyond Wonderland electronic music festival's organizers announced the cancellation of Sunday's activities at the Gorge on social media.
According to the concert organizers, the shooting location was an "overflow camping area," and according to Foreman, the majority of those staying there were probably present at the concert when the shooting took place.
The North Central Washington Special Investigation Unit, an impartial oversight organization, is looking into the shooting.
