Seven of the eight victims killed Friday night (November 5) at rapper Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival in Houston have been identified. They are Brianna Rodriguez, 16; Axel Acosta, 21; Rudy Peña, 23; Franco Patino, 21; Danish Baig, 27; John Hilgert, 14; Madison Dubiski, 23; and Jacob Jurinek, 23.
The victims were crushed when the crowd attending the music concert surged toward the front of the stage while Scott was performing. The Houston police are currently investigating what spurred concertgoers to push forward and cause the death of eight people and hundreds of injuries. This includes investigating reports that someone in the crowd was injecting people with drugs. It is estimated that about 50,000 people attended the event.
Scott released a statement via Twitter the following morning about the tragedy that occurred at his festival, stating that he was “absolutely devastated” and offering his prayers to the “families and all those impacted by what happened.”
In 2015, Scott was arrested for telling fans to jump over barricades during his performance at Lollapalooza. He also pled guilty in 2018 to a public disorder charge for encouraging fans to rush the stage at a concert in Arkansas. Lawsuits for Astroworld are expected against Scott, concert promoters, and the venue for not reacting more quickly to what Houston police referred to as a “mass casualty” event.
An outpouring of condolences has flooded social media for the last two days. Rodriguez’s family remembered their loved one as “beautiful” and “vibrant.”
“Gone from our sites [sic], but never from our hearts,” her family wrote on social media. “It is with profound sadness we lay to rest our beloved Brianna Rodriguez. She was a beautiful vibrant 16-year-old high school junior at Heights HS in Houston TX. Dancing was her passion and now she’s dancing her way to heaven’s pearly gates.”