Two people died and at least five others were injured during a shooting that occurred last night in the vicinity of an amphitheater where the Beyond Wonderland electronic music festival was held, in the state of Washington (USA), authorities reported.
In a statement released today on social networks, the Grant County Sheriff's Office, in the aforementioned state, said that the shooter has been arrested.
"We can confirm two deaths. We have five confirmed injuries. The suspect is in custody. The scene has been secured," the sheriff's office said.
It also noted that information about the shooting victims "will not be available until the on-site investigation is completed and the families of the victims have been notified." The shooter's identity was also not provided.
According to the information released, the attacker left the scene of the shooting before the agents could locate him.
According to Grant Sheriff's Office spokesman Kyle Foreman, the suspect shot "randomly" into the crowd as he fled and was eventually apprehended.
Beyond Wonderland is an electronic music festival organized by Insomniac Events, which takes place over a day or two in various cities on the US West Coast, including Seattle, San Bernardino and Mountain View.
This Sunday, the organization reported that it was canceling its second day of the program due to the shooting.
"Due to the incident that took place at the overflow camping area last night, we regret to inform you that Day 2 of Beyond Wonderland (...) has been cancelled," the festival tweeted.
"We would like to express our sincere thanks to the local authorities and staff who acted quickly to handle the situation. Our deepest thoughts and condolences go out to the family, friends and all those affected by this tragic event," he added.
For today, the performance of the well-known American producer and DJ Marshmello was scheduled, as well as that of the Dutch DJ Afrojack.
According to the Gun Violence archive, in 2023 there have been 310 mass shootings in the United States. Gun Violence is a nonprofit incident tracking organization that defines a mass shooting as a single incident in which at least four people, other than the shooter, are shot.
