Sad Details Revealed In The Astroworld Tragedy Police Report

A nearly 1,300-page Houston police report released to the media in July 2023 offers new insight into the 2021 Astroworld Festival tragedy, when 10 people — including several teens and children — were killed and thousands more injured in a crowd crush, Rolling Stone reports. Hip-hop artists Travis Scott and Drake appeared at the concert that year, and the chaos ensued during Scott's performance. Since the incident, authorities have sought to find out why the concert was allowed to go on, as well as how word spread when things went wrong and how much and at what point the performers, security staff, and event organizers knew about safety issues.

According to the Houston police, Scott's performance began around 9 p.m. and lasted for more than an hour, although there were repeated warnings about the stampede and calls for the show to stop. While on stage, Scott was told through his earpiece to stop the show, but he claims he did not know the nature of the situation. Drake said any attempts to tell him via his crew backstage were not received.

One private security team member at the festival told Houston police on the morning of the event he was already concerned about safety, but that his warnings to those in charge were met with indifference. Hundreds of lawsuits were filed in response to the deaths and injuries, but in 2023, a Texas grand jury declined to press criminal charges against Scott, Reuters reports.

Also revealed in the Houston Police report regarding the Astroworld tragedy, once the crush of audience members happened and it was clear many were seriously injured and some had died, the audience also shouted for the performers to stop the show, and medical facilities were flooded with concertgoers in need of care. Drake said his location on stage — as well as the bright lights during his performance — obscured his vision, according to the Houston PD. 

Drake also said he had recently undergone knee surgery and that he was focused on dancing and performing without worsening the injury. He said he never heard anything through his earpiece as things unfolded, and that same earpiece kept him from hearing the crowd's calls for him to stop. In his interviews with Houston authorities, rapper Travis Scott reportedly described himself in a "trance" while performing, explaining why he failed to hear or see how bad things were. 

Scott did say he received one message through his earpiece that told him the performance needed to conclude but there was no clear indication of what had happened. Both Scott and Drake said they only later learned how severe the situation was. Scott said if he had understood sooner he would have stopped the concert. Reports from private security firm employees and audience members said they informed venue staff and security in the middle of the emergency but no one seemed to listen.

In addition to interviews with Drake, Travis Scott, and members of the security team at the 2021 Astroworld Festival, one camera crane operator told Houston police that audience members attempted to climb the crane he was operating and that it had to be shut down around 20 minutes after Scott appeared on stage. He informed security at that point people may have already been killed and that CPR was already being administered to injured concertgoers.

According to Houston PD, one private security team member told her superior via text shortly after the show started, "Pull [sic] tons over the rail unconscious. There's panic in people eyes. This could get worse quickly. I know they'll try to fight through it but I would want it on the record that I didn't advise this to continue. Someone's going to end up dead." In the concert livestream, a voice can be heard calling for the show to end roughly 15 minutes after Scott appeared on stage and again about five minutes and 10 minutes later.

Some 50,000 people attended the Astroworld Festival in 2021, and the official causes of death were ruled compression asphyxia, or a lack of oxygen caused by pressure applied from outside the body, according to Health.com. As of this report, many civil lawsuits against both Scott and Astroworld Festival promoter Live Nation are ongoing, while others are settled. Parts of the Houston Police report are redacted for legal reasons and privacy considerations.