A grand jury additionally determined to not indict further folks related to the pageant who had been a part of the police investigation, together with chief of safety John Junnell and pageant director Brett Silberstein.
“In this instance, the grand jury of the 228th District Court of Harris County found that no crime did occur, that no single individual was criminally responsible,” Ogg mentioned.
“It is tragic that 10 innocent people were killed while trying to enjoy an evening of music and entertainment, something many of us do routinely and without a second thought to our safety.
“But a tragedy is not all the time against the law, and never each demise is a murder. This grand jury’s dedication has no influence on the various civil lawsuits pending.”
The victims died of “compression asphyxia,” according to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. The youngest victim was nine years old.
Multiple lawsuits have been filed against Scott and other organisers, including the entertainment company Live Nation. The defendants have denied the allegations that negligence in the planning and promotion of the festival contributed to the deaths.
“While ready patiently for the District Attorney’s resolution to not file costs, Travis Scott has been inaccurately and wrongly singled out, regardless of stopping the present three separate occasions and being unaware of the occasions as they had been unfolding,” Scott’s spokesperson Ted Anastasiou told CNN Thursday.
“Now that this chapter is closed, we hope for the federal government efforts to deal with what’s most vital – stopping future heartbreaking tragedies like Astroworld from ever occurring once more.”
“Criminally talking there isn’t a case,” Scott’s attorney, Kent Schaffer told CNN by phone.
Schaffer delivered the news to Scott, who is out of the country for a concert.
“He is ecstatic. It’s an enormous weight that has been faraway from his shoulders. He’s wanting ahead to getting again house after being cleared by the grand jury,” Schaffer told CNN.
The grand jury met for six hours and homicide detectives testified, according to Schaffer.
Houston Police Department chief Troy Finner said on Thursday that the department will release the entire criminal offence in the coming weeks.
The Astroworld tragedy left 10 people dead when the concert quickly turned into chaos as concertgoers were crushed, with many struggling to breathe as people crowded near the stage during Scott’s performance.
Blue light soars overhead, seconds later 80 million trees flattened
The turmoil prompted officials to declare the concert a “mass casualty occasion,” police said at the time.
It was unclear at the time what Scott saw from the stage and whether he was aware of the conditions in the crowd. He continued to perform nearly an hour after injuries were reported, but did not know of the mass casualty declaration until the following morning, his lawyer said at the time.
Earlier in the day, authorities at the festival reported unruly behavior, with a handful of injured attendees taken to the hospital the day of the festival, Houston Fire Department logs showed at the time.
These earlier incidents are part of what led to the crowd conditions, with Houston Police Department’s lead homicide investigator Mike Barrow saying during today’s press conference that a key cause of the compaction in the crowd was the early large number of concertgoers gathering at Scott’s main stage in anticipation of his show.
In a statement released after the deadly event, Scott said he was “distraught by the state of affairs and desperately needs to share his condolences and supply support to (the victims) as quickly as doable.”
Source: www.9news.com.au
