Photo Credit: Queen’s Valley Stage at the Gorge Amphitheatre / Beyond Wonderland
A judge has denied Live Nation’s bid for summary judgment in the wrongful death suit derived from 2023’s Beyond Wonderland shooting.
On February 13, a Washington state judge denied Live Nation’s push for summary judgment in the wrongful death lawsuit tied to 2023’s mass shooting tragedy at the Beyond Wonderland music festival. Filed in King County Superior Court, the lawsuit alleges the incident resulted from “egregiously deficient” security.
According to the complaint, the shooter, James Kelly, allegedly drove into the campground area of the Gorge Amphitheatre with firearms, ammunition, and hallucinogens without an adequate search of either his vehicle or his person. Kelly opened fire in the campground during the festival, killing two people and injuring others. He was arrested and later charged with two counts of first-degree murder and multiple counts of first-degree assault.
The case was filed in 2024 by the families of Brandy Escamilla and Josilyn Ruiz, who died in the shooting, as well as Lily Luksich, Kelly’s then-girlfriend, who was also shot but survived. The victims’ families claim that Live Nation, which operates the Gorge Amphitheatre and promoted the festival through Insomniac Events, could have prevented the shooting with a better screening process, or by ejecting Kelly from the festival after he began exhibiting strange behavior.
But Live Nation claims the shooting was not a foreseeable incident and that its security team’s firearm-sniffing dogs searched Kelly’s vehicle upon entry, but found nothing. The company maintains that it can’t be held liable for failing to prevent such an incident, particularly when Kelly was an Army service member with no known violent history.
However, Judge Patrick Oishi refused to dismiss the matter in a one-page order that remained vague in his reasoning. Regardless, the case will move toward a trial, which is currently scheduled for June. Live Nation is still likely to try to settle the claims rather than go before a jury, but that remains to be seen.
“The court correctly rejected Live Nation’s attempt to avoid responsibility by claiming it owed no duty to take reasonable measures to protect concertgoers from the foreseeable risk of gun violence at its venue,” said Brian Panish, a lawyer for the Escamilla and Ruiz families, in a statement to Billboard. “Our clients’ families deserve their day in court and will continue to pursue justice to ensure this never happens to another family.”
The families are suing for wrongful death and seeking an unspecified amount in damages to be determined at trial. They’re also bringing negligence claims alongside Luksich, who is seeking monetary damages.
