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By Nathan Frandino and Joseph Ax
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Houston's police chief said on Monday he met
briefly with hip-hop star Travis Scott to voice his "public
safety concerns" before the rapper took the stage for a weekend
performance that ended with eight people killed and dozens more
injured in a stampede.
Chief Troy Finner publicly disclosed conveying words of caution
to Scott in person as legal action mounted on behalf of
concertgoers crushed in Friday's deadly crowd surge, while
police pursued a criminal probe of the tragedy.
Scott, the hometown recording star who was performing on stage
as headliner of his Astroworld festival when the incident
occurred, canceled an appearance scheduled for this weekend at a
similar outdoor event in Las Vegas, a source close to Scott
said.
Scott said on Monday he would cover all funeral costs and offer
aid to those affected. He is also working with law enforcement
and city officials to "respectfully and appropriately connect"
with victims and their families, according to a statement.
The victims were crushed in a surge of fans near the stage at
NRG Park at around 9:30 p.m., with some unable to breathe and
others trampled underfoot. Hundreds of others in the sellout
crowd of 50,000 were injured throughout the day.
Fans described a chaotic scene after a steady escalation of
disruptive behavior over several hours.
Finner said in a statement released via Twitter that he met with
Scott and his head of security "for a few moments" prior to the
headliner's ill-fated performance.
"The meeting was brief and respectful and a chance for me to
share my public safety concerns as chief of police," Finner
wrote, making no explicit mention of concertgoers' accounts of
gate-crashing and increasingly unruly behavior throughout the
day among the largely young crowd.
LAWSUITS CLAIM NEGLIGENCE
The eight fans who lost their lives ranged in age from 14 to 27
and included a high school baseball player, a high school band
member who loved to dance and several college students from
across the country.
Although he paused the music multiple times after spotting fans
who needed medical attention, Scott completed his set. The show
continued for 37 minutes after officials declared a "mass
casualty event," according to a Houston Chronicle timeline.
Scott released a short video late on Saturday, saying that while
he was on stage, "I could just never imagine the severity of the
situation." He also posted a statement on Twitter saying he was
"devastated" and would cooperate fully with authorities.
More than a dozen lawsuits from victims and their families have
already been filed against several defendants, including Scott
and concert promoters Live Nation Entertainment Inc and
ScoreMore.
The lawsuits generally accuse Live Nation of acting negligently
by failing to create and enforce sufficient safety protocols,
failing to provide adequate security and failing to maintain
proper crowd control.
Live Nation issued a statement on Monday saying the company
"would address all legal matters at the appropriate time."
Scott's representatives declined comment on civil suits filed.
'PURE, UTTER CHAOS'
Houston-based attorney Tony Buzbee told a news conference on
Monday his firm planned to sue on behalf of Axel Acosta, 21, who
died at the festival, and at least 34 other victims.
"It's self-evident that this concert was planned incredibly
poorly," Buzbee told reporters, saying that video footage of the
event posted to social media before and during Friday's deadly
crowd surge showed scenes of "pure and utter chaos."
"Axel died on the muddy ground of a concert that he attended for
fun," Buzbee said. "Neither Travis Scott nor his handlers,
entourage ... promoters, organizers or sponsors cared enough
about Axel to make even a minimal effort to keep him and others
at the concert safe," Buzbee said.
Basil Baig, whose brother, Danish, died at the festival, told
reporters that Scott and concert organizers "have blood on their
hands."
Live Nation's stock fell 5.4% on Monday.
The company said in a statement on Monday that it had met with
authorities and handed over all video footage of the concert.
Live Nation also said it had offered refunds to attendees and
planned to provide mental health counseling and help pay for
medical expenses for victims.
Police have opened a criminal investigation into the incident,
and Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, the chief executive for
the county that includes Houston, has called for an independent
inquiry.
Roderick Payne, a crowd control expert whose firm provides
security for large-scale events, told Reuters that authorities
would review the security plan and determine whether mistakes
were made.
But he also said there are limits to how much security can do
when dealing with such a large crowd.
"You can't prevent 50,000 people from trampling anybody," he
said.
(Reporting by Nathan Frandino in Houston and Joseph Ax in
Princeton, N.J.; Additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb in Los
Angeles, Barbara Goldberg and Jonathan Stempel in New York,
Brendan O'Brien in Chicago, Erwin Seba in Houston and Shivam
Patel in Bengaluru; Writing by Steve Gorman and Joseph Ax;
Editing by Matthew Lewisand Peter Cooney)
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