Chief: Astroworld staffing records ‘not good’

HOUSTON — Organizers of the Astroworld music festival have not provided investigators with clear records about private security personnel working the grounds when a massive crowd surge during headliner Travis Scott’s set led to at least eight deaths, Houston’s police chief said Wednesday.

It was up to Live Nation Entertainment, the show’s promoter, to secure two mosh pits in front of the stage Friday night at the sold-out festival of 50,000 people, Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said at a news conference.

He described staffing records handed over by organizers as “just not good” but emphasized that he was not placing any blame.

But key questions are still unknown after the tragedy, which left hundreds of other concertgoers injured, including at least two who were still in critical condition. Finner said police told organizers to shut down the performance when fans in the crowd were administered CPR. But he repeatedly declined to provide timelines, making it unclear at what point that order came in Scott’s roughly hourlong set, and how much longer the show lasted after the directive was given.

“When you say authority and ability to end the show, we don’t hold the plug. But it’s always in the plan,” he said.

Scott’s attorneys told the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that the megastar rapper could not see or hear what was happening in the crowd.

Finner also forcefully defended his department’s ability to handle the criminal investigation on its own, rejected calls for an outside probe and said he did not have a close relationship with Scott, who is from Houston and founded the festival.

BRANDON BELL/GETTY A family at a memorial Tuesday outside NRG Park, site of the Astroworld music festival, in Houston.