Washington music festival shooting: Officials identify victims, suspect

GEORGE, Wash. — Officials in Washington state have identified the victims killed and injured in a shooting at a campground located near a music festival on Saturday.

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Officials also named the person suspected in the shooting.

According to the Grant County Sheriff’s Office and a verified GoFundMe account, Josilyn Summer Ruiz, 26, and her partner, Brandy Paulette Escamilla, 29, both of Seattle, were killed outside Beyond Wonderland, which was held at the Gorge Amphitheater campgrounds, KIRO-TV and KXLY-TV reported.

The sheriff’s office said in a statement that Escamilla and Ruiz were found unconscious and suffering from gunshot wounds, KREM-TV reported. They were pronounced dead at the scene, according to the television station.

The suspected shooter was identified by the sheriff’s office as James M. Kelly, 26, a soldier at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, KXLY reported.

Kelly was hospitalized for a gunshot wound before he was returned to Grant County on Tuesday, according to KREM.

Kelly is facing two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault and one count of first-degree assault domestic violence, according to KXLY.

Grant County Sheriff Joe Kriete said that Andrew Cuadra, 31, of Eugene, Oregon, and Lily Luksich, 20, of Mill Creek, Washington, were both struck by gunfire. A private security guard, Lori Williams, 61, was struck by a bullet but it deflected off her glasses, Kriete said.

Cuadra, who also goes by the name of August Morningstar, told the Spokesman-Review that he was shot in the shoulder and was awaiting surgery at a Seattle hospital on Tuesday night.

He told the newspaper that he heard gunshots before he was shot but believe they were fireworks. He siad he did not know why the man shot at him.

“I was in the wrong place, wrong time,” Cuadra told the Spokesman-Review.

The shooting happened just before 8:30 p.m. PDT Saturday, KIRO reported. The sheriff’s office said it received calls about an active shooter and told people to “take cover.”

The sheriff’s office said during a news conference late Saturday that the shooter appeared to have fired randomly into a crowd at the event, according to KIRO.

“First, the U.S. Army Special Operations Command extends our condolences to the victims and families of those affected by this act of violence,”  Lt. Col. Mike Burns, director of public affairs with the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, said 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. Spc. James Kelly is a Joint Fire Support Specialist (13F) assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment at Joint Base Lewis McChord. Kelly joined the Army in 2021. The investigation is ongoing, we refer further questions to the appropriate civilian authorities.”