2 dead and 3 injured, including suspect, in shooting at The Gorge concert campground
Two people are dead after a shooting near The Gorge Amphitheatre in Grant County, Wash., Saturday night, that included random shots fired into a crowd at the concert venue’s campground.
Three other people were hurt, including the suspect in the shooting, said Kyle Foreman, spokesman for the Grant County Sheriff’s Office in a brief news conference late Saturday night.
The sheriff’s office put out an alert telling people at the Gorge’s Beyond Wonderland event to seek cover after people reported shots fired just before 8:30 p.m.
“Run, hide or fight suspect,” the alert said.
The shooting was at the campground several hundred yards away from the concert venue, Foreman said at the news conference.
After the initial shots were fired, the shooter walked away, he said. When law enforcement pursued the shooter, the suspect shot randomly into the crowd.
The North Central Washington Special Investigation Unit is investigating the shooting and said the incident included an officer-involved shooting.
The Grant County Sheriff’s Office posted on social media about 10:45 p.m. that a suspect was in custody.
It posted Sunday afternoon that victims of the shooting had been notified, but did not publicly released the identity of victims.
Beyond Wonderland, a two-day electronic dance music festival at The Gorge, continued as planned Saturday. But about 5:30 a.m. Sunday, Beyond Wonderland posted on Facebook that Sunday’s event had been canceled.
“We would like to express our sincere appreciation to the local authorities and staff who acted quickly to manage the situation,” the post said. “Our heartfelt thoughts and condolences go out to the family, friends and all those affected by this tragic event.”
Campers near the crime scene Saturday night were being helped by concert staff to find other places to stay, according to the Grant County sheriff’s Office.
No more information was immediately available on the Juneteenth weekend.
In an incident at the Gorge Amphitheatre 10 months ago, the Grant County Sheriff’s Department arrested a man they suspected of planning a mass shooting at an electronic dance music festival there after a report that he had loaded two pistols at the trunk of his car.
However, the sheriff’s department later said that the man’s intent was not a mass shooting.
This story was originally published June 18, 2023 at 10:08 AM with the headline "2 dead and 3 injured, including suspect, in shooting at The Gorge concert campground."