Panicked hip-hop and R&B fans reportedly rushed to the exits of the Lovers and Friends Festival Saturday night in Las Vegas amid reports of gunshots.
Reports soon erupted online of a “stampede” on the Las Vegas festival grounds, with people claiming to have been run over in a hurry to leave as screens inside the venue urged festival-goers to stay put, News 3 Las Vegas reports.
Footage posted online showed thousands of people trying to get out as they walked through the streets in an attempt to reach safety.
Security personnel were then forced to stop the concerts on Saturday night, as the Metropolitan Police investigated the scene.
that they She eventually found the reports of the shootings on the festival grounds “baseless”, and soon the concerts were allowed to resume, with the stage attendant taken.
As the Las Vegas City Police said TMZ: Shortly after 10 p.m., gunfire was heard near the site of the Adoration and Friends Festival, causing a large group of attendees to flee the venue.
“At this time, there is no evidence of shooting, and the initial report was deemed unfounded.”
Police added that three people were taken to a local hospital with minor injuries, and “the show has since resumed.”
After confirming it was a “false alarm”, festival organizers tweeted: “We would like to thank the local authorities for their quick response.”
Footage posted online showed thousands of hip-hop and R&B fans walking the streets following reports of a shooting at the Lovers and Friends Festival.
Some claimed online that they were run over in the mad rush to leave – and the Metropolitan Police Department later confirmed that three people had been taken to hospital with minor injuries.
Lovers and Friends Festival organizers tweeted in the wake of the show that the show was allowed to continue after the Metropolitan Police Department decided “there was a false alarm.”
Some angry festival-goers have taken to Twitter in the wake of the “security incident” to share how their fellow fans became violent when they took a direct line to get out.
One user wrote: “I really thought I was going to die tonight, get run over by people, and heard a lot of people screaming and crying for their lives.
He continued, “The Lovers and Friends Music Festival wasn’t worth it.” “I will suffer from PTSD for life!”
Eileen Gravia also wrote that she was traumatized by the event, saying, “Seeing a rush of people approaching you, other people getting run over, fear in everyone’s eyes because people were screaming ‘shooter’ is one of the scariest things I’ve ever experienced.”
Kia Felicia tweeted that she was one of the people who “almost got trampled” at the music festival “and I’m annoyed that they kept showing up and showed no concern for those who got hurt.”
Meanwhile, Matt Galilea wrote: ‘Lovers and Friends went from over a dozen trampled and someone took the director out of ‘launching rumors’ to performing again in 20 minutes, and I don’t even think I need to explain how f** * ** This is.
Thousands of hip-hop and R&B fans attended the Saturday night music festival, which featured artists such as Akon
Ja Rule performed at sunset at the Lovers and Friends Music Festival at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds hours before starting to run toward the exits
Shortly after the Metropolitan Police determined that the reports of the shooting were “baseless”, Usher took to the stage
Fans took to Twitter to express their indignation at what happened
The incident at Lovers and Friend’s comes nearly seven months after 10 partygoers died of ‘pressure suffocation’ during a large crowd at Travis Scott’s Astroworld performance on November 5.
Among the dead, who ranged in age from 9 to 27, were Rodolfo “Rudi” Pena, 23; Jacob Eurnick, 20; Franco Patino, 21; Briana Rodriguez, 16; Danish Paige, 27; Axel Acosta, 21 years old; John Hilgert, 14 years old; Madison Dubisky, 23, Bharti Shahani, 22, Ezra Blount, 9.
Authorities said they died because the pressure from the crowd at the event was so great that it quickly squeezed all the air out of the victims’ lungs, causing them to faint within a minute or so and die because critical organs, such as the heart and brain, were depleted of oxygen.
Hundreds more were injured in the mounting crowd, 300 people were treated at the site and 25 were hospitalized in connection with the accident.
In the aftermath, several lawsuits were filed against rapper and stage guest Drake, promoter of Live Nation, and individuals affiliated with NRG Park and Scoremore Holdings in Houston. In total, they sue the rapper for billions of dollars.
In December, the House Oversight and Reform Committee announced that it had launched an investigation into Live Nation, the music festival promoter, and sent a letter to Michael Rapinoe, the company’s president and CEO, requesting information about her role in the concert.
Rapper Travis Scott came under fire after he continued to perform at the Astroworld Music Festival as soaring audiences led to hundreds of injuries – and ultimately 10 deaths.
First responders had to make their way through the crowd to help those who had passed out