Before eight people were killed and dozens injured at Travis Scott's music festival Astroworld on Friday, Houston's police chief reportedly personally expressed concerns to the rapper.
Houston Police Chief Troy Finner visited Scott in his trailer on Friday before his show at the Astroworld Festival, and he "conveyed concerns about the energy in the crowd," noting "very devoted" fans would be in attendance, The New York Times reported. The warning came after officials, who were concerned about crowd control, reportedly spent months bracing for the festival.
Eight people died, and more were injured, after the crowd "began to compress towards the front of the stage" at the music festival while Scott was performing, Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña said. A criminal investigation is now underway. The probe will look into "what caused, one, the issue of the crowd surge, and two, what prevented people from being able to escape that situation," Peña told CNN.
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In an interview with the Times, Peña said Scott and the organizers of the festival could have stepped in to pause the show, which reportedly ended almost 40 minutes after city officials declared a "mass casualty event."
"If somebody would have said, 'Hey, shut this thing down and turn on the lights until this thing gets corrected' — and that coming from the person with the mic — I think could have been very helpful," Peña said.
Scott said he was "absolutely devastated" by the tragedy at the festival and that the Houston Police Department has his "total support" with its investigation. He also said he could "never imagine the severity of the situation." Multiple lawsuits have now been filed against Scott, the entertainment company Live Nation, and others, one of which accuses the defendants of failing to "properly plan and conduct the concert in a safe manner" and ignoring the "extreme risks of harm to concertgoers."
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