Murder Suspect and Victims Identified in EDM Festival Shootings; Soldier Accused of Killing Two Women in Gorge Campground – Variety
by June 5, 2024 The women killed were engaged to be married. Two others attending the Beyond Wonderland festival were also shot. The accused is an Army soldier stationed in Washington
By Chris Willman
Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic
The suspect and victims have been identified by law enforcement authorities in a mass shooting Saturday outside the Gorge amphitheater in Washington state that left an engaged couple dead and two other concertgoers wounded.
Killed in the campground adjacent to the Gorge during the Beyond Wonderland music festival were Brandy Escamilla and Josilyn Summer Ruiz, both from Seattle, who were engaged to be married. Left wounded in the gunfire were Lily Luksich, who was reported to have attended the concert with the shooter, and Andrew Cuadra, aka August Morningstar.
Accused in the shootings is James M. Kelly, 26, an active-duty soldier stationed at Washington’s Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Kelly, who joined the Army in 2021, was was shot by a Moses Lake police detective, ending the melee Saturday night. After being released from the hospital Tuesday, Kelly was booked on two counts of first-degree murder, two-counts of first-degree assault and one count of first-degree assault domestic violence.
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Escamilla died from a gunshot wound to the head and Ruiz succumbed to a gunshot wound to the torso, according to Grant County Coroner Craig Morrison, as reported by KXLY in Spokane. The couple were said to have been shot as they walked through the campground adjacent to the venue.
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On top of the four killed or wounded, a fifth person — a security guard — was reported to have been hit by a bullet, but it deflected off her glasses, leaving the guard with lacerations but no serious injuries.
At a press conference late Saturday night, local police said they knew of no motive for the shootings, and none has been released subsequently.
Beyond Wonderland, an EDM festival, continued into the late hours after the gunfire on Saturday, with most concertgoers becoming aware of the shootings nearby only as they received texts from worried friends learning about the mayhem from the news. The second day of music planned for Sunday was canceled. One of the largest and most iconic amphitheaters in the country, the Gorge has a capacity of around 27,000, although no attendance figures were released for the festival.
On Tuesday, one of the injured, August Morningstar of Eugene, a father of two who was shot in the shoulder, spoke with Seattle television station KOMO. “I just walked into something I had nothing to do with. I turned around,” he said in a Zoom interview from his hospital bed. “Before he saw me, he killed someone, and I think he thought I saw what happened. I guess he wanted to get rid of any witnesses.” Morningstar said the gunman chased him and he had to “bob and weave” between cars and tents before eluding the shooter hiding behind a friend’s tent.
Morningstar said he heard five or six shots that he at first assumed were fireworks. “I heard (a voice saying), ‘Don’t do this, don’t, you don’t got to do this.’ Two seconds later, the shooter pops out.”
Joint Base Lewis-McChord Lt. Col. Mike Burns told media that the suspect is a joint fire support specialist assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment. “First, the U.S. Army Special Operations Command extends our condolences to the victims and families of those affected by this act of violence,” said Burns in a statement. “The command is aware of the allegations against Spc. James Kelly. We take all allegations seriously and are fully cooperating with the appropriate authorities.”
GoFundMe accounts have been set up for funeral and other expenses for the families of Ruiz (here), a registered nurse, and Escamilla (here), who also held a nursing degree. The Ruiz GoFundMe had raised more than $67,000 as of this writing, and the fundraiser for Escamilla’s family was up past $24,000. A GoFundMe was also established for the medical bills for Morningstar (here), up to $26,000 as of this writing. “As of right now we don’t know if he will ever be mobile in his shoulder again,” reads the copy for his fundraiser.
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