2 dead, 3 injured in shooting outside Washington music festival

Two people were killed and three others wounded after a gunman opened fire outside a sold-out music festival in Washington State on Saturday night, according to police.

The gunfire erupted at a campground outside the Gorge Amphitheater in Quincy, Wash., during the packed “Beyond Wonderland” electronic dance music festival, according to the Grant County Sheriff’s Office.

Police said the wounded included the shooter, who was taken into custody in what they said was “an officer-involved shooting” shortly before 8:30 p.m. Pacific time.

Kyle Foreman, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office, said at a press briefing Saturday night that the gunfire broke out “several hundred yards” from the festival at “the campground on the opposite side of the venue.

“The shooter then walked away from where the incident happened,” Foreman said. “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.”

The sheriff’s office has not identified the gunman nor has it provided any details of a motive or the ages of the victims.

“Information about shooting victims will not be available until the on-site investigation is complete and the victim’s families have been notified,” the sheriff’s office said on Facebook.

“Information about the shooter will also not be available pending investigation,” the post said.

The office also asked friends or relatives of music festival attendees who are unaccounted for to reach out to them at 509-762-1160.

The music festival had advised concert attendees on Twitter to stay away from the campground.

“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,” the tweet read.

The amphitheater, which holds 27,500 people, was hosting the first of the two-night festival and has several campgrounds around the venue, including one near the main entrance and a larger campground a half-mile away, where the shooting is believed to have occurred, according to KIRO7.

Earlier in the evening, police sent out a county-wide alert of an active shooter situation occurring at the amphitheater telling concertgoers to “seek cover. Run, hide or fight (the) suspect.”

“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 organizers said in a tweet.