Nearly two years following the Astroworld festival tragedy on November 6, 2021, the Houston Police Department (HPD) has released a detailed report on the tragic stampede, which resulted in the death of 10 concertgoers, including a 10-year-old boy, along with thousands injured. Police also shared a link to the 1,266-page report in a tweet on Friday (July 28).
Videos by American Songwriter
The report details the complete investigation by the police department into the tragedy, which took place while rapper Travis Scott, who also founded the festival in 2018, was performing as the headliner. Scott was also interviewed in the report and said that while he was onstage, he was told in his earpiece, “Yo Trav, you got to wrap it up. It’s getting kinda hectic out there.” He added that he did not understand the severity of the situation until later in the evening.
Drake, who was also a guest performer during the festival on Nov. 6, was also interviewed and asked if he noticed any issues in the audience during his performance. The rapper said that the lighting made it difficult to see everything happening in the crowd and that he never received a request to end the show.
A security guard, Marty Wallgren, also shared with police that he urged Scott’s team to end the show during Drake’s performance when he noticed that the situation within the crowd had gotten out of hand. In addition to Wallgren’s statement, two engineers, who were also connected to Scott’s earpiece, said the show continued despite warnings.
In the report, authorities also include a number of interviews with those in the audience, detailing their experiences as it began the crowds began to compress around them. Several witnesses reported being crushed by other audience members during Scott’s set. Some detailed pushing, stepping on feet, and watching members of the crowd being stepped on after they fell to the floor.
Texas A&M student Seanna McCarti, who was also in attendance, voiced her frustration at the police for not taking her statement sooner in the report and stated that she pleaded with a cameraman to stop the show during the stampede.
[RELATED: Travis Scott Not Expected to Face Criminal Charges for Astroworld Tragedy]
“She stated that she made eye contact with this other person and explained to him that people were dying in the crowd, and she pointed to the area where she had come from,” according the report. “The person responded to her by saying, ‘Get off the platform.’ She repeated to him that people were dying.”
In June 2023, Scott was cleared of all criminal charges connected to the incident by a grand jury in Texas, following a 19-month investigation of the festival tragedy. At least 4,900 in attendance suffered injuries, and the multiple cases filed against Scott have since been consolidated in a Texas state court through multi-district litigation, a process that facilitates the streamlined resolution of similar lawsuits.
The rapper, along with event promoter, Live Nation Entertainment, still faces several civil lawsuits, including a case opened by the family of the 10-year-old boy who was killed.
Photo: Mauricio Santana/Getty Images
