2 dead, 3 hurt in shooting at The Gorge during electronic music festival

Two people were killed and three were injured in a shooting Saturday night near a campground hosting people attending the electronic dance music festival Beyond Wonderland, police said.

The Grant County Sheriff’s Office said Saturday it received a report of a shooting shortly before 8:30 p.m. at the venue near the small city of George, alongside the Columbia River in Central Washington. The suspect had walked away and was shooting “randomly into the crowd” before deputies took him into custody, sheriff’s spokesperson Kyle Foreman said.

The names and conditions of the victims were not immediately available though the victims’ families had all been notified as of Sunday, according to the sheriff’s office. The shooter was among those injured, Foreman said, but authorities have not clarified whether a deputy fired a gun. The Grant County Coroner’s office said it will begin autopsies Tuesday on the bodies of those killed.

Haley Weis, 28, was at the main stage when her boyfriend got a call. Their friends were at the adjacent campground when they heard from another festival goer that something was happening. 

At the Fox Den campsite, next to the amphitheater, Yazmin Alvarez, 30, was with her husband and friend.

“This woman came by and she was running and she kind of whispered, ‘Hey, there’s an active shooter.’ We’re like, ‘What?’ ” she said.   

Alvarez and her group grabbed their phones and ran from the campsite toward the exit, finding cover by some buildings near a road, along with another dozen or so people. That’s when they saw helicopter lights. 

Nearby, the festival carried on. 

“It just felt uncomfortable since we are also hearing people having a great time to the left of us,” Alvarez said. 

The group called another friend and made their way out, only going back to the campground to retrieve their IDs and sweaters. They left their camping gear behind.

Organizers of Beyond Wonderland said on social media that Sunday’s events at the Gorge Amphitheatre were canceled. The shooting occurred on the campgrounds next to the concert stages, the sheriff’s office said. Concert organizers described the location as an “overflow camping area.”

The North Central Washington Special Investigation Unit has taken over the investigation and will review any police use of force. The unit has not given more information but said weekly updates would be provided.

Last summer, a suspect with a gun was similarly apprehended during the Bass Canyon festival. There were no injuries but authorities shared that they believed they stopped the man from carrying out a mass shooting.

The Gorge Amphitheater does not allow weapons on site.

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