Active U.S. Army member identified as suspect in Beyond Wonderland festival shooting

GRANT COUNTY, Wash. (TCD) — Officials have identified the suspect and victims in a shooting that occurred during the Beyond Wonderland electronic dance festival over the weekend.

According to Grant County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Kyle Foreman, on Saturday, June 17, at approximately 8:20 p.m., deputies responded to a campground near the Gorge Amphitheater to a report of shots fired. Foreman said the shooting took place in the campground, and then the suspect allegedly walked away and started shooting “randomly into the crowd” until police eventually took him into custody.

Grant County Sheriff Joe Kriete said when authorities arrived at the scene, they located two unresponsive women suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. According to Kriete, the women, later identified as 29-year-old Brandy Escamilla and 26-year-old Josilyn Ruiz, were pronounced dead at the scene.

Escamilla and Ruiz were originally from California but had recently moved to Seattle and were engaged to be married, KABC-TV reports.

Kriete also noted several local law enforcement agencies assisted in the investigation.

The women were walking through the campground when the suspect, identified as active U.S. Army member 26-year-old James Kelly, allegedly shot them, according to a news release from the Grant County Sheriff’s Office.

Witnesses reportedly saw Escamilla and Ruiz helping a domestic violence victim who was with the gunman at the time, KABC reports.

Attorney Kevin Boyle told KABC, “They were being good Samaritans and stepped in to protect the victim of the domestic violence, and then Josilyn was shot in the torso and Brandy was shot in the head.”

Boyle added, “We think that was in retaliation for them trying to assist the victim.”

Another victim, 31-year-old Andrew J. Caudra, aka “August Morningstar,” of Eugene, Oregon, was reportedly shot once in the shoulder and was transported to the Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for treatment. The Sheriff’s Office said he is in stable condition.

Sixty-one-year-old Lori Williams, a crowd management services worker for the festival, was reportedly shot while responding to the scene in a Polaris Ranger UTV. A bullet allegedly went through her windshield, hitting her in the face, causing bruising and lacerations. She was treated and released at the scene.

A fifth victim, 20-year-old Lily A. Luksich, reportedly attended the festival with the shooting suspect and suffered “two gunshot wounds to her lower extremities.” The Sheriff’s Office said she was transported to the Samaritan Hospital, treated, and released.

Officials located the suspect, Kelly, in a field near the campground. According to the Sheriff’s Office, “Moses Lake Police Department Detective Edgar Salazar fired his duty weapon at Kelly, striking him one time” before responding officers took Kelly into custody.

Kelly was transported to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, Washington, for treatment and was booked into the Grant County Jail upon his release.

In a statement, Kriete said, “I want to express my deepest sympathies to the victims, their families, and friends. This is a tragic incident, and I know that I speak for my staff when I say that we are holding you in our thoughts.”