- Houston's police chief met with Travis Scott ahead of his Astroworld show, the Times reported.
- Authorities and concert organizers worried about an energetic crowd, the Times reported.
- At least eight people died and hundreds more were injured after the crowd surged Friday night.
The chief of the Houston Police met with rapper Travis Scott about crowd control concerns before his Friday show, at which eight people died, The New York Times reported Sunday.
An unnamed source told the Times that Police Chief Troy Finner was worried about how the crowd would act at Scott's show, and so he met with the rapper in his trailer earlier on Friday.
Both city authorities and the concert organizers expected a very energetic crowd, at least partly because of the anticipation built by the pandemic, and they prepared for months by hiring extra police officers and security staff for the event, according to the Times.
Despite the additional staff, the crowd started to surge during Scott's performance, authorities said. Eight people were killed and hundreds more were injured during the surge.
Scott is originally from Houston. The Times reported that Police Chief Finner knows Scott and thought he was "trying to do good for his hometown" with the show.
Both Scott and Live Nation, the event's organizers, say they will cooperate with the police investigation.
Scott continued performing for more than 30 minutes after police declared the festival to be a mass casualty event.
Videos from the event show fans breaking through barriers to get in, and at least one concertgoer dancing on an ambulance that was trying to move through the crowd to help the injured.
People who were at the festival told Insider's Joshua Zitser that pleas to festival staff to stop the show when the crush began were ignored.
Scott tweeted on Saturday: "I'm absolutely devastated by what took place last night. My prayers go out to the families and all those impacted by what happened at Astroworld Festival."
Article From & Read More ( Police met Travis Scott over Astroworld crowd fears before deaths: NYT - Insider )https://ift.tt/2YvVuBO
Entertainment
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Police met Travis Scott over Astroworld crowd fears before deaths: NYT - Insider"
Post a Comment