Police consider Houston concert disaster a criminal case, reports of people being injected with substance

Houston police say the investigation into how eight people died during a concert is now a criminal case.

Investigators are also looking at a report that someone was injecting people with an unknown substance, Houston police Chief Troy Finner said at a Nov. 6 press conference.

During the AstroWorld concert, headlined by rapper Travis Scott, eight people were killed during a “crush,” as people surged towards the stage. Dozens more were taken to the hospital and hundreds received treatment at the scene.

The scenes from the Nov. 5 concert were shared on media and showed first responders trying to make it through the crowd to get to the wounded.

Finner said officers are looking into reports of people being injected with a substance during the concert. He added a security member was reaching for someone in the crowd when he felt a prick in his neck.

As medical personnel looked at the guard, he went unconscious, Finner said. The guard was given an injection of NARCAN and revived. NARCAN is a drug used to counter the effects of an opioid overdose.

Finner also said some of the people who died were trampled to death. He asked for time as the police conduct an investigation, which he described as a criminal one.

“Kids and young individuals that was out there,” Finner implored, “If you see something, say something.”

LiveNation, the concert promoter, has cooperated and police were expecting to get video from the show later in the evening to help in their investigation Finner said.

AstroWorld released a statement on social media after the incident.

“Our hearts are with the AstroWorld festival family tonight — especially those we lost and their loved ones,” it read.