GEORGE, Wash. — Chaos and gunfire erupted in the Gorge Amphitheater campgrounds during Beyond Wonderland Saturday night, a music festival that sees thousands of attendees. Two people were killed, and three were hurt, including the suspected shooter.
KIRO 7 talked with someone who walked around the Gorge Amphitheater around 8:30 p.m. Saturday night when someone suddenly yelled at her to run.
“Walking towards the campsites and out of nowhere people just started bursting out of the bushes and workers were yelling at us live shooter,” said Bella Burnova, who attended Beyond Wonderland. “Everybody froze and then as soon as it clicked in our heads everybody just turned around that was on the path, and we just all just started running away. For the next probably 10-15 minutes we were just running around. I had no idea where I was running to.”
The Grant County Sheriff’s Office said the shooting happened at the campgrounds near the amphitheater. They also said the shooter fired twice. The first time he walked away from the area, then when the police closed in he started firing randomly into the crowd.
“There were definitely some people already hysterically crying, and then other people were getting angry,” said Burnova. “He told fellow campers live shooter, run. He told her I just saw a person die in front of me. He yelled at her and continued running basically. That was when I found out, this is actually a lot worse.”
Beyond Wonderland was canceled the second day. People KIRO 7 talked with at the grounds said they learned of the cancelation around 3 a.m. and Beyond Wonderland tweeted the cancellation around 5 a.m.
The company behind the fest, Insomniac Events, deferred to the police for comment. The company behind the Gorge, Live Nation, didn’t respond to KIRO 7′s request for comment. Several people said this was their first-ever music festival, and it might be their last.
“I would definitely think twice before going to another one without getting an email of some sort of list of genuine precautions a place is taking on security,” Burnova said.
Police haven’t said what lead up to the shooting or how bad the victims’ and shooter’s injuries are. The families of the two that were killed have been notified. The victims’ names will be released in the coming days.
— Beyond Wonderland at The Gorge (@BeyondWlandPNW) June 18, 2023
©2023 Cox Media Group
