Police Say Astroworld Security Guard Felt Prick On Neck, Had To Be Revived With Narcan

Houston, TX – Houston Police Chief Troy Finner vowed to get to the bottom of allegations that a member of the crowd at the Astroworld music festival on Friday night was injecting drugs into people after a security guard reported feeling a prick in his neck before losing consciousness.

Eight people were killed and more than 300 were injured when the crowd got out of control when Travis Scott took the stage at Astroworld at about 9 p.m. on Nov. 5, KHOU reported.

Two of the audience members who died on Nov. 5 were only 14 and 16 years old.

Thirteen people remained hospitalized over the weekend.

Witnesses told CNN that it was obvious things were out of control with the crowd at the rapper’s music festival when security was unable to control the crowd at the gate early in the day.

Chief Finner promised at a press conference on Saturday that he would get to the bottom of what caused the melee that turned a music festival into a “mass casualty event.”

“We leave no stones unturned,” the police chief said. “This has not happened to us in Houston since I’ve been a police officer and we take pride in it. And we’re going to get down to the bottom of it.”

He confirmed the rumors that someone had been injected with something that made them lose consciousness, KHOU reported.

“A lot of narratives right now. A lot of them on social media and even last night,” Chief Finner said. “I think that all of us need to be respectful of the families and make sure we follow the facts and the evidence. And that’s what we’re trying to do here in the Houston Police Department. I will tell you one of the narratives was that someone was injecting other people with drugs.”

He said that a security officer said he was reaching out to restrain a concertgoer when he felt a prick on his neck, according to KHOU.

“We do have a report of a security officer, according to the medical staff, that was out and treated him last night, that he was reaching out to restrain or grab a citizen and he felt a prick in his neck,” the police chief said.

“When he was examined, he went unconscious,” Chief Finner said. “They administered Narcan. He was revived and the medical staff did notice a prick that was similar to a prick that you would get if somebody was trying to inject.”

The chief said the police department was actively investigating those allegations, KHOU reported.

Officials have said investigators will use videos, witness reports, and a review of the way the venue was constructed to determine where things went wrong on Friday night.

The police chief has defended the fact that the concert wasn’t shut down until 40 minutes after police received the first report of attendees in distress, FOX News reported.

He said that police immediately notified concert organizers of the problem and then had discussions with the fire department and venue officials before calling a stop to the music.

“You cannot just close when you’ve got 50,000 – over 50,000 – individuals, okay?” Chief Finner told reporters. “We have to worry about rioting – riots – when you have a group that’s that young.”

Scott, 29-year-old Houston native, founded the Astroworld Festival in 2018, FOX News reported.

He has a three-year-old daughter with Kylie Jenner and the couple are expecting a second child.

Although Travis has posted regrets to social media in the wake of the disastrous concert, his words rang hollow to many because of his track record with encouraging chaos at his previous shows, FOX News reported.

At least three people were injured at the Astroworld festival in 2019 after there was a stampede in the crowd.

Scott was arrested in 2017 after he invited fans to skip security and rush the stage at a concert in Arkansas, FOX News reported.

He also pleaded guilty to doing the same thing in Chicago at Lollapalooza in 2015.