Live Nation faces wrongful death lawsuit after Gorge Amphitheatre shooting
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- The families of a Seattle couple who were killed in a shooting at the 2023 Beyond Wonderland at The Gorge EDM festival in Washington have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the event organizers and security companies working the event.
The lawsuit was filed against Live Nation on April 10, claiming the company's "egregiously deficient" security protocols led to the shooting, which killed 29-year-old Brandy Escamilla and 26-year-old Josilyn Ruiz and injured three others.
“Live Nation has the means and the duty to make sure security is the highest priority for their concert patrons. Never should someone’s life be taken so senselessly and tragically at a music event,” said the Escamilla and Ruiz families in a joint statement. “We hope filing this lawsuit sends a message to Live Nation and their associates that they are responsible for the deaths of Brandy and Josilyn. They are responsible for our broken and shattered lives. Our families will never recover from this loss, but we do not want their deaths to be in vain. This could have and should have been prevented.”
Authorities say on June 17, 2023, fellow concertgoer and active-duty member of the U.S. Army James Kelly, 26, opened fire at the festival in an area where people were camping.
Kelly told detectives he took psychedelic mushrooms that caused him to hallucinate and may have led to the shooting, according to court documents.
A woman he was dating who was also shot recalled him saying he thought the world was ending, probable cause documents showed. Kelly then went to his truck to get a gun and shot the two women. He also shot the woman he was dating, another person attending the festival and an employee, the documents allege.
In July 2023, Kelly pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault and one count of first-degree domestic violence assault. His next hearing is scheduled May 6, according to Grant County Superior Court clerk's office.
The plaintiff's attorneys claim Kelly was acting erratic before the shooting occurred and “despite displaying obvious signs of illicit drug use and suspicious behavior that were grounds for immediate ejection from the festival campgrounds, not a single Live Nation staff member, manager, or security member attempted to intervene or approach the shooter,” before he opened fire.
“As alleged in the complaint, Live Nation and The Gorge had strict policies prohibiting the possession of drugs and weapons on its premises and campgrounds, and Live Nation woefully fell short in enforcing its policies. Live Nation systematically failed to meet its own standards and take reasonable steps to make the venue and campgrounds safe for concertgoers. Those failures cost Brandy and Josilyn their lives,” said the family's attorneys at Panish, Shea, Ravipudi LLP.
The lawsuit further claims Live Nation has a history of poor security practices.
“Upon information and belief, Live Nation and the Gorge Amphitheatre have a history of illicit drugs and weapons on the campgrounds and venue grounds. That history pre-dates the shooting,” the lawsuit alleges. “For years, Live Nation had notice of, and knew that, illicit drugs and weapons were making it into the Gorge Amphitheatre venue and campgrounds. Despite that history and knowledge, Live Nation failed to take reasonable steps to make the venue and campgrounds safe for concertgoers.”
“All Brandy and Josilyn wanted to do that weekend was enjoy good music, dance, and unwind from the week but instead, they lost their lives and their opportunity to spend their lives together as they’d intended,” added the Escamilla and Ruiz families. “We now only have pictures of our beautiful girls to look at instead of being able to hold them in our arms again, hear their voices, and let them know how much they are loved. We never want any parent or family to have to go through what we have been through.”
KOIN 6 News reached out to Live Nation for comment. This story will be updated if we hear back.