Gunman Fires Into Crowd Near Music Festival, Kills 2

Suspect shot randomly into campground, officials say
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 18, 2023 3:05 PM CDT
Gunman Fires Into Crowd Near Music Festival, Kills 2
The Gorge Amphitheatre near Quincy, Washington, hosts the Sasquatch Music Festival in May 2014.   (AP Photo/The Seattle Times, Genevieve Alvarez)

A gunman fired randomly Saturday night into a Washington state campground crowd during a music festival going on nearby, police said, killing two people and wounding two others. Grant County sheriff's officials said the suspect fired while walking through the campground around 8:30pm, CNN reports. Thousands of people were listening to electronic dance music at the Gorge Amphitheatre a few hundred yards away at the time. Police said the gunman kept shooting until officers stopped him in the campground and took him into custody. He was wounded in the confrontation and hospitalized, officials said.

The Beyond Wonderland festival went on during the shooting, per the AP. "Law enforcement had eyes on him, and they were able to keep him in that area," a sheriff's spokesman said. "He wasn't moving toward the venue." Although there was no evacuation, an alert went out telling people in the area to "run, hide, or fight." Many of the people staying in the campgrounds probably were at the amphitheater during the shooting, officials said. The second day of the two-day festival, Sunday, was canceled. The venue is about 150 miles east of Seattle. Joni Mitchell and friends performed there last weekend before 27,000 people, per NPR. (More mass shootings stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X