Travis Scott and Drake are sued for 'inciting the crowd' that left eight festivalgoers dead

A festivalgoer at Astroworld has sued Travis Scott and Drake for over a million dollars, claiming the rappers ‘incited the crowd’ that left him ‘severely injured’ and eight others dead. 

Kristian Paredes, 23, from Austin, Texas, filed the complaint obtained by DailyMail.com Sunday accusing the rappers, Live Nation Entertainment Inc. and Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation of negligence. 

According to the complaint, special guest Drake ‘came on stage alongside Travis Scott and helped incite the crowd.’ 

He accuses Drake of continuing to perform with Travis Scott ‘as the crowd became out of control’ and ‘while the crowd mayhem continued.’   

Paredes is now seeking over $1million for his bodily injuries, some of which he claims is permanent, as well as to cover medical expenses. 

Scott, who said he was ‘devastated’ about the deaths and couldn’t ‘imagine anything like this happening,’ has been convicted twice for encouraging fans to jump security barriers and rush the stage at previous concerts.   

Paredes says he was at the front of the general admission section, with just a metal barrier separating him from the VIP Section.  

He says he felt an ‘immediate push’ as the countdown to Travis Scott’s performance ended and he entered the stage around 9pm.

‘The crowd became chaotic and a stampede began leaving eight dead and dozens including Kristian Paredes severely injured,’ the filing states.  

‘Many begged security guards hired by Live Nation Entertainment for help, but were ignored,’ it says. 

Paredes says in the lawsuit that the injuries and deaths are due to the ‘negligence, carelessness and recklessness’ of the ‘defendants, their agents, servants and employees, in the ownership, management, maintenance, operation, supervision, and the control of the subject premises.’

He is seeking a trial by jury.  

Texas attorney Thomas J. Henry, who is representing Paredes, said, ‘There is no excuse for the events that unfolded at NRG stadium on Friday night.

‘There is every indication that the performers, organizers, and venue were not only aware of the hectic crowd but also that injuries and potential deaths may have occurred. Still, they decided to put profits over their attendees and allowed the deadly show to go on.

‘Live musical performances are meant to inspire catharsis, not tragedy. Many of these concert-goers were looking forward to this event for months, and they deserved a safe environment in which to have fun and enjoy the evening. Instead, their night was one of fear, injury, and death.’  

Scenes from the tragic night have unfolded on social media, showing concert goers unconscious while the rapper continued his performance. 

Video circulating on Twitter shows fans begging the rapper to stop performing and chanting ‘stop the show’ as concertgoers were being knocked down and crushed by other attendees. 

‘Fans were recording the concert and people doing CPR. Fans were yelling at the stage crew around us, saying stop the concert, people are dying. No one listened,’ ICU nurse and concert attendee Madeline Eskins told Rolling Stone.

‘It was definitely overcrowded. It was insane, honestly. I knew it was just way too crowded – it just got worse and worse as I got closer to Travis Scott performing it got more crowded, more crowded, more crowded.’ 

She also shared that although they are not to blame for the tragedy, the event’s medical staff were apparently unprepared and inexperienced.

‘Some of these medical staff had little to no experience with CPR – didn’t know how to check a pulse, carotid or femoral,’ Eskins shared on Instagram.

‘Compressions were being done without a pulse check so ppl who had a pulse were getting CPR, but meanwhile there was not enough people to rotate out doing compressions on individuals that were actually pulseless. The medical staff didn’t have the tools to do their jobs and despite the crowd around us trying to get someone to stop the concert they just kept going, even though Travis acknowledged that someone in the crowed needed an ambulance.’

Afterwards, the rapper was seen sobbing. A source close to him told Page Six that he had ‘no idea what was going on, he was on stage performing’.

‘He’s beside himself, I’ve never heard him like that. He was in tears,’ the source added. 

Friday’s deaths raised eyebrows over footage showing multiple incidents of crowds stampeding towards Scott at prior performances at Lollapalooza in Chicago in 2015 and at an outdoor venue in Arkansas in 2017. Both incidents resulted in misdemeanor convictions for Scott. 

A fan who was paralyzed after falling from a balcony during a Scott concert in 2017 has blasted the singer for putting fans’ safety at risk. 

A lawyer for Kyle Green, a 27-year-old who was injured at Scott’s April 2017 concert at Terminal 5 in New York City, says that Green was ‘devastated and heartbroken’ for the families of the eight people who died at Scott’s Friday night concert. 

Green says he was forced over the edge of a balcony at the venue, which he called ‘severely crowded.’ He broke several bones and vertebrae and can only walk with a ‘significant, significant disability.’ 

In a statement to DailyMail.com, Green’s attorney Howard Hershenhorn said that Scott’s security picked Green up ‘like a sack of potatoes’ instead of ‘putting him in a neck brace and on the backboard.’

‘He’s even more incensed by the fact that it could have been avoided had Travis learned his lesson in the past and changed his attitude about inciting people to behave in such a reckless manner,’ Hershenhorn told Rolling Stone. 

At the 2017 show, Scott had encouraged another fan to jump off the balcony. 

‘I see you, but are you gonna do it?’ Scott asked. ‘They gonna catch you. Don’t be scared. Don’t be scared!’ 

In video of the incident, one fan can be heard saying, ‘I don’t wanna die in here.’ 

Green sued Scott, his manager, concert promoter Bowery Presents and a security company six months after the incident while he was still confined to a wheelchair. The case is pending.

In August 2015, the 29-year-old, who is dating Kylie Jenner, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of reckless conduct after his fans jumped a security barricade at the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago.

The Office of Emergency Management said at the time: ‘The performer played one song and then began telling fans to come over the barricades. Due to the security’s quick response, the situation was remedied immediately and no fans were injured.

The performer fled the scene but was arrested shortly after, according to station WLS.

‘All my real ragers jump the barricade right now. Let’s go. Come over,’ he said at the 2015 show as his young fans obliged. ‘I want chaos.’ Hundreds were seen storming towards the stage, although there were no reports of anyone being injured.  

In February 2018, he pleaded guilty to another misdemeanor charge – this one for disorderly conduct – after he encouraged his fans to rush the stage and bypass security at a May 2017 concert at the Walmart Arkansas Music Pavilion in the city of Rogers. 

Scott paid a 7,465.31 fine, according to KFSM. 

The Rogers Police Department said several people were injured during the rush and  treated on the scene by the fire department and staff from a local hospital.

Weeks before that, a fan at a Scott concert in Manhattan says he was carried over the side of a balcony after the rapper asked fans to rush forward, and was subsequently paralyzed as a result.  

And at Astroworld Festival on Friday, witnesses allege Scott continued to perform after eight people were crushed to death – including two victims aged just 14 and 16 – in what one witness described as a ‘floor of bodies’. 

Although he completed his 75-minute performance, at one point Scott was filmed calling for help. In another video he stood on a platform with his microphone while chaos unfolded beneath him.  

Approximately 50,000 people attended the sold-out Astroworld event at Houston’s NRG Park. Witnesses said the chaos broke out after Scott took the stage to perform.  

‘Everything was normal up until when Travis posted the time he was going to get onstage,’ attendee Donovon Davis, 22, of Houston, said. ‘That’s when it just got wild.’

‘The crowd was moving so violently that people fell on top of us, and when they fell, people fell on top of them. There was layers and layers and layers of people falling.’

Davis continued: ‘I turned to pick him up, and I could hear him screaming for help. The music hadn’t started yet. And then the crowd just moved me, and I saw a wave of people just walk over him.’ 

Other videos from the night showed distraught fans begging concert staff to halt the performance and help people escape the surge.

‘People are f***ing dying, I want to save somebody’s life,’ a man said as he climbed on a platform where a cameraman was filming the performance.

‘That’s somebody’s kid! I want to save them!’ he screamed – but to no avail.’  

Another clip showed the same man climbing up towards the cameraman joined by a woman pleading with the staff member to stop the concert.

Although inaudible, the cameraman was evidently trying to shoo the revelers off the platform and back into the crowd.

In yet another graphic video an unconscious young man was surrounded by Houston police officers who guided him onto the ground. They rolled the man onto his side while shining lights into his eyes.

Police investigating the deadly crush say a crazed man injected at least one person with opioids during the chaos. 

Houston Chief of Police Troy Finner made the shocking claim at a press conference Saturday after hours of rumors about the Astroworld Fest tragedy, and Mayor of Houston Sylvester Turner revealed the victims were aged between 14 and 27. 

‘One of the narratives was that some individual was injecting other people with drugs. We do have a report of a security officer, according to the medical staff that was out and treated him last night,’ Houston Chief of Police Troy Finner said at Saturday’s conference.

‘He was reaching over to restrain or grab a citizen and he felt a prick in his neck.

‘He went unconscious, they administered Narcan. He was revived, and medical staff did notice a prick similar to a prick you would get if somebody was trying to inject,’ he added. 

It is unclear what drug was injected into the security guard, although Narcan is used to revive people who’ve overdosed on opioids, including fentanyl. 

The surge happened at 9.15pm and Pena said in a news conference on Saturday afternoon that the ‘mass casualty incident’ was declared at 9.15pm. Nearly an hour later, at 10.10pm, the concert producer Live Nation halted the show. 

Mayor Turner then confirmed that of the eight who were killed two were under 18, two were 21, two were 23, one was 27 and one victim’s age remains unknown.

He also said that 25 people in total were transported to the hospital after the ‘tragic event’ and 13 are still hospitalized, including five that are under the age of 18. 

Distressing video showed an unconscious male concertgoer being rushed to a medical assistance area after he passed out in the crush, which happened after people surged towards the stage shortly after 9.15pm CST Friday night. 

Earlier on Friday, hundreds of people were seen stampeding through the event’s VIP entrance without being checked, sparking fears of overcrowding. 

As the chaos unfolded the rapper even appeared to glance in the direction of passed-out fans as the show went on. Scott halted the performance at least once was filmed calling for security to help distressed fans in the front row. 

Mayor Turner said the investigation remains active with the police department’s homicide and narcotics team, adding that the local government is also speaking with spokespeople from the concert’s producer Live Nation Worldwide and Live Nation Entertainment.

‘We will probably be at it for quite some time to determine exactly what happened,’ Turner said. 

Houston Police executive assistant Chief Larry Satterwhite, who was near the front of the crowd, said the surge ‘happened all at once’.

‘Suddenly we had several people down on the ground, experiencing some type of cardiac arrest or some type of medical episode,’ Satterwhite said. ‘And so we immediately started doing CPR and moving people right then.’

Satterwhite said promoters quickly agreed to end the event ‘in the interest of public safety’.

In a tweet posted Saturday, Scott said he was ‘absolutely devastated by what took place last night’.

He pledged to work ‘together with the Houston community to heal and support the families in need.’

Meanwhile, a memorial is growing outside of NRG Park.

People placed letters, balloons and bouquets at the gate by the venue. 

‘I wanted to set it up, just cause the lives lost,’ Matthew, who set up the makeshift memorial, told KPRC’s Rilwan Balogun. 

‘The community right now, from everybody that left #AstroWorld is definitely split, something to bring us together.’

He continued: ‘Even the online community come together just to come over here, to put something down.’

Astroworld organizers canceled the rest of the festival, scheduled to continue on Saturday.

‘Our hearts are with the Astroworld Festival family tonight – especially those we lost and their loved ones,’ they said on the event’s Instagram page. ‘We are focused on supporting local officials’.

Travis Scott founded the Astroworld Festival in 2018.

Two Illinois best friends who went to Travis Scott Astroworld concert in Houston to celebrate birthday are identified among eight killed during stampede: Youngest victim is a 14-year-old boy

A pair of best friends from Illinois were the latest victims to be identified in the fatal stampede that killed eight during Travis Scott’s Astroworld concert, which also took the life of 14-year-old boy. 

The identification of the victims continues as it was revealed a 14 year-old boy killed in a crush at the concert was the youngest victim, and an unclaimed body photographed and shared by cops has also been identified. 

University of Dayton student Franco Patino, 21, was attending the event with his best friend, 20-year-old Jacob Jurinek. Both were killed in the crush. 

Patino was a huge fan of the rapper and travelled from Southern Ohio to Houston for the event with his best friend to celebrate Jurinek’s upcoming 21st birthday, according to WGN9. 

Jurinek, better known as Jake, attended Southern Illinois University. 

Patino was studying engineering and was a member of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and the Alpha Psi Lambda.  

He was also a part of the society’s special interest house, which he worked with fellow student Andy Prieto to create.

‘Andy and I worked together day and night to make this dream come true because we believed it was a necessity to have a house for Hispanics to come together and have a little piece of familiar culture in a predominantly white institution,’ Patino said in an article about the society on the university’s website.    

Jurinek is listed as a junior studying journalism on SIU’s ‘People Finder’ site.  

‘We are brokenhearted to lose a member of the Saluki family, Jacob Jurinek, and we extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends,’ SIU Chancellor Austin A. Lane said in a statement Sunday. ‘Jacob was a creative, intelligent young man, with a promising career in journalism and advertising. As we mourn this loss in our community, we will keep Jacob’s family and friends in our thoughts.’ 

Jurinek had bought the tickets six months before the show to celebrate his upcoming 21st birthday on November 20. He worked on graphic arts and media as an intern for the athletic department, according to the Washington Post.   

John Hilgert is the youngest victim of the horrific crush, which killed eight people at Friday night’s Astroworld Festival in Houston. 

He was a ninth grader at Memorial High School and was remembered as a talented baseball player, as well as a popular student.

A spokesman for Spring Branch ISD said: ‘Our hearts go out to the student’s family and to his friends and our staff at Memorial. This is a terrible loss, and the entire MHS family is grieving today.

‘Please keep the student’s family in your thoughts and prayers as they face this tragedy. We will make counselors available to students next week to offer any help and support needed.’

John’s baseball coach Justin Higgs also paid a heartfelt tribute on Instagram. He wrote: ‘RIP John Hilgert. He got the Call up to the Major Leagues by the Almighty! John made an impact on anyone who met him and they always remembered him. I have memories of John I’ll never forget. 

‘You had to love the kid. No option not too cause he was who he was. He loved the game if baseball. Was a privilege to coach this young man. Many prayers go out to any of his friends, teammates, and his family… especially Ms. Hilgert. 

‘One of the nicest human beings I’ve ever met. John was an Angel the whole time I knew him… impacting others for good and he himself was a legend. The legend of John. Will meet again John. Till then watch over us my friend. Catcher, pitcher, shortstop, great kid. Lived his life to the fullest.’ 

Hilgert was pictured at the same time as Houston’s medical examiner shared a photo of another male victim’s body they were unable to identify.

That man’s family has since come forward, and he has been identified as Axel Acosta, 21, KTRK reported. 

Acosta was claimed by his father, Edgar, who had traveled from Washington to attend the concert. His remains have since been claimed from Memorial Medical Hospital by Edgar, with Acosta’s aunt Cynthia saying it had been the first time he’d ever attended an event.

Acosta turned 21 last month, and had been studying computer science at Western Washington University. His dad said he had struggled to file a missing person’s report in the wake of the deadly crush because the family lives out of state.   

The victims, who age between 14 and 27, have been identified as the brother of one of those killed slammed the ‘poorly’ managed event ran by ‘horrible’ people.

Danish Baig, 27, was one of people who died after a surge at the concert.  

Baig was killed after trying to save a relative during the stampede at the concert, his brother Basil Baig confirmed on Facebook. 

‘My brother was killed in this horrendous Astroworld event that was managed poorly and supervised by such horrible people,’ Basil wrote on Facebook. 

He commended his late brother for his ‘courageous act’ and called him a ‘beautiful soul.’  

Others whose deaths have been confirmed to various news outlets are 16-year-old Brianna Rodriguez and Rodolfo ‘Rudy’ Peña, 23.

‘My brother tried to save my sister in law from these horrendous acts that were being done to her in the process he lost his life,’ Basil wrote. 

‘My brother Danish Baig [is] a beautiful soul whos[e] smile would light up the room and put everyone before himself. Last night he showed his courageous act to save my sister in law from those horrendous things that were being done. 

‘I was there and I wasn’t able to save my brother.’ 

Basil reported that people were ‘hitting,’ ‘pushing’ and ‘shoving’ and ‘did not care for anyone’s life.’ 

He also alleged that superstar rapper and baby daddy to Kylie Jenner’s daughter Stormi ‘provoked these people and made them do just that [stampede] and more he called people to the stage to jump into the crowd and did not stop the show.’ 

Basil also said: ‘This was not the end my family and I will go to the Full extent to make sure he is brought to justice.’ 

John Hilgret, 14, of Hunters Creek Village, was the youngest person to die at the concert. His death was confirmed on Saturday by officials at Memorial High School, where he was a freshman student.

Hilgret attended Friday’s concert with his long-time friend, Robby Hendrix, 15.

Hendrix’s mother, Tracy Faulkner, bought her son’s ticket it for his birthday and ‘ultimately regrets the decision.’

‘Everything about that night was a tragedy,’ Faulkner told the Houston Chronicle. ‘They were both in the same place at the same time and one came home and one we will never see.’

She said Hilgret and Hendrix had known each other for years and played football together.

‘John was a good student and athlete and so polite. He was the sweetest and smartest young man,’ she shared. 

Two others were identified by their families to have died at the tragic event.  

Brianna Rodriguez, 16, People confirmed, and Rodolfo ‘Rudy’ Peña, 23, confirmed by the Laredo Morning Times, were among the eight. 

Rodriguez was a dancer and a junior in high school. 

‘Gone from our sites, but never from our hearts,’ her wrote family on Facebook. 

Her family started a GoFundMe to help with funeral expenses. It has raised $8,910 out of its $30,000 goal.  

Peña was an aspiring model and had dreams of becoming a U.S. Border Patrol agent, according to USA Today.  

He drove five hours from Laredo to Houston with his friends to attend the show, where he died of cardiac arrest.  

His sister told the Laredo Morning Times: ‘My brother was the sweetest person, friendly, outgoing, he had many friends because he was always there for everyone. Yes, he was a big fan of Travis, he loved his music.’

Approximately 50,000 people attended the sold-out Astroworld Festival at NRG Park on Friday. Witnesses said the chaos broke out after Scott took the stage to perform. 

The surge happened at 9:15 p.m. and the ‘mass casualty incident’ was declared at that time. Nearly an hour later, at 10:10 p.m., the concert producer Live Nation halted the show. 

Earlier on Friday, hundreds of people were filmed stampeding through a VIP entrance at the Live Nation-organized event, sparking fears of overcrowding and poor crowd control. 

Scott, 29, continued to perform after eight people were crushed to death – including two victims aged just 14 and 16 – in what one witness described as a ‘floor of bodies.’ 

Video circulating on Twitter shows fans chanting ‘stop the show’ as concertgoers were being knocked down and crushed by other attendees.  

Although he completed his 75-minute performance, at one point Scott was filmed calling for help. In another video he stood on a platform with his microphone while chaos unfolded beneath him.

As the chaos unfolded the rapper, who completed his show, even appeared to glance in the direction of passed-out fans as the show went on. Scott halted the performance at least once was filmed calling for security to help distressed fans in the front row. 

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner revealed during a press conference Saturday that the dead ranged in age from 14 to 27. Their cause of death has not yet been determined.  

Meanwhile, Scott’s girlfriend Kylie Jenner, who is pregnant with their second child and attended the event, was blasted online for posting a clip of an ambulance tending to the injured and dead as the chaos unfolded.  

But other videos from the night showed distraught fans begging concert staff to halt the performance and help people escape the surge.

‘People are f***ing dying, I want to save somebody’s life,’ a man said as he climbed on a platform where a cameraman was filming the performance.