A suspect is in custody after at least two people were killed in a shooting during an electronic dance music festival on Saturday night, authorities said.
The Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington, was hosting Beyond Wonderland when reports of a shooter at the campgrounds nearby were received at around 8:25 p.m. local time.
Kyle Foreman, the public information officer for the sheriff's office, said the shooter fired into a crowd in campgrounds that are several hundreds yards away from the festival venue.
"The shooter then walked away from where the incident happened," Foreman told reporters at a news conference early Sunday morning.
"Law enforcement moved into the area to try to track him down. The shooter continued to shoot randomly into the crowd, and the suspect was eventually taken into custody."
Foreman confirmed that two people had died and that three others, including the suspect, sustained injuries.
He did not identify the suspect, and the names and conditions of the victims were not immediately available. Authorities did not know the motive for the shooting, he said. Foreman added that the nearby concert continued while the police operation was going on.
"There was a mass notification sent countywide to avoid the venue and that there was a shooting that happened, also giving guidance to people who were in the area to either run, hide or fight and to avoid the Gorge Amphitheatre due to the hazard that was going on." Newsweek has contacted the sheriff's office for further comment via email.
A Facebook post from the sheriff's office had earlier warned that there was an "active shooter at Gorge Amphitheatre."
"If at the Gorge, seek cover. Run, hide or fight suspect," the sheriff's office wrote in the post.
Organizers of the Beyond Wonderland festival posted tweets asking concertgoers to avoid a gate to the campground, but said there was no danger to attendees.
Our team is actively collecting more information, and we will promptly provide further updates as they become available. We genuinely appreciate your cooperation and understanding in this matter.
— Beyond Wonderland at The Gorge (@BeyondWlandPNW) June 18, 2023
"Please avoid the Gorge Gate H campgrounds area as it is closed due to an incident that has been handled by local authorities. There is no current danger to festival goers or the campgrounds," they wrote.
"Our team is actively collecting more information, and we will promptly provide further updates as they become available. We genuinely appreciate your cooperation and understanding in this matter."
The incident is one of at least seven mass shootings that took place on Saturday, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as one where four or more are shot and/or killed, not including the shooter.
The Gun Violence Archive's database shows 305 mass shootings have occurred across the United States so far this year.
Update 6/18/23, 4:10 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
