Washington's Bass Canyon EDM Festival took place this weekend at Gorge Amphitheatre, and while the event was a successful one, according to local police it was almost ruined by a potential mass shooting.
On Friday (August 19) evening, both security from the festival and witnesses notified authorities around 9 PM that they had seen a man in the parking lot inhaling "an unknown substance" from a balloon before he produced two 9mm pistols from his trunk and loaded them with ammunition.
Reports state that the man placed one pistol in his waistband and the second in a holster. Next, he approached concertgoers with inquiries about what time the event ended and where patrons would be exiting.
As Pitchfork notes, the suspect has since been identified as 31-year-old Jonathan R. Moody. Security detained him outside of the venue's gates where he was promptly arrested on suspicion of one count of possession of a dangerous weapon and another count of unlawful carrying or handling of a weapon; currently, he's booked at the Grant County Jail.
The Grant County Sheriff's office shared a statement via Facebook on Saturday (August 20), writing, "Last night’s concert was sold out, which means there were upwards of 25,000 people attending."
"The Gorge Amphitheater does not allow weapons on site, but Moody’s possession of weapons was not the lone factor for his arrest," they continued.
"Moody’s actions of appearing to inhale an intoxicant, loading weapons in the parking lot, and his questions about where concertgoers would be exiting and at what time, furthered the suspicions of witnesses and deputies. Moody did not make any statements to deputies."
In conclusion, authorities reminded readers to follow the "if you see something, say something" policy – in this case, it "resulted in a possible tragedy being prevented," as the Sheriff's office put it.
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