GEORGE, Wash. — Two people were killed and three others were injured in a shooting at a campground located near a music festival in George, Washington, on Saturday night.
Update 10:40 a.m. EDT June 18: Beyond Wonderland on Twitter announced that day two of the festival has been canceled due to the shooting Saturday night.
“We would like to express our sincere appreciation to the local authorities and staff who acted quickly to manage the situation. Our heartfelt thoughts and condolences go out to the family, friends, and all those affected by this tragic event,” the festival said.
Original story: The Grant County Sheriff’s Office in an updated statement on Facebook confirmed last night that two people were killed and three others were injured in a shooting at the Gorge Amphitheater campgrounds in George. They also confirmed that the shooter was in custody.
The shooting happened just before 8:30 p.m. PDT Saturday evening, according to KIRO. The sheriff’s office received calls about an active shooter and told people to “take cover.” The shooting happened at the campgrounds located outside of the venue.
The sheriff’s office at a news conference late Saturday night said the shooter seemed to have fired randomly into a crowd of people at the campgrounds, according to the news outlet.
The Beyond Wonderland music festival was taking place at the Gorge Amphitheater at the time of the shooting, according to KIRO. Thousands of people were attending and the venue has campgrounds directly outside its main entrance. They also have one about a half mile away and it appeared to be that was where the shooting happened.
The Beyond Wonderland festival sent out a tweet just after 1 a.m. EDT that the local authorities were handling the investigation and that there was no “current danger to festival-goers or the campgrounds.”
The concert went on as planned, KIRO reported.
The sheriff’s office said the names of the victims will not be available until they complete their investigation on the scene and notify their families. The suspect’s information will also not be available due to the investigation.