John Hilgert has been identified as the youngest of the eight victims who passed away during Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival. His high school, where he was a freshman and a member of the baseball team, issued a statement following news of his tragic passing.
The letter, obtained by ABC 13, was written by Memorial High School principal Lisa Weir. “Our hearts go out to the student’s family and to his friends and our staff at Memorial. This is a terrible loss, and the entire MHS family is grieving today.”
The school is also offering counseling to its students as they grieve over the loss of their classmate. Hilgert’s baseball coach, Justin Higgs, also shared his own statement.
RELATED: Rudy Peña’s Family Demands Answers After Losing Their 23-Year-Old At Astroworld
Along with photographs and videos of Hilgert playing baseball Higgs wrote, “RIP John Hilgert. He got the Call up to the Major Leagues by the Almighty!”
“John made an impact on anyone who met him and they always remembered him. I have memories of John I’ll never forget. You had to love the kid. No option not [to] cause he was who he was. He loved the game [of] baseball.”
Higgs wrote that it was a “privilege to coach” John before offering his condolences “especially” John’s mother. John was “one of the nicest human beings I’ve ever met,” Higgs continued.
“John was an Angel the whole time I knew him… impacting others for good and he himself was a legend. The legend of John. [We] will meet again John. Till then watch over us, my friend. Catcher, pitcher, shortstop, great kid. Lived his life to the fullest.”
As Mamas Uncut previously reported, during the first night of Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival, at least 8 people died, 23 were injured, and hundreds were treated by medical personnel when a crowd surge occurred while Scott was playing on stage.
Travis Scott Sued Following Tragic Incident that Resulted in 8 Deaths
RELATED: Travis Scott Issues Statement After 8 People Died At Astroworld Festival: ‘I Am Absolutely Devasted’
As the mass of people reportedly pushed forward toward the stage it trapped many of the concert-goers, squeezing them in. The incident happened just after 9 p.m. The Astroworld Festival was established by Scott, who is from Houston, in 2018.
According to the accounts of those that survived the terrifying incident, hundreds of people feared for their lives. In that instant, they believed they were going to die.
Now, Travis Scott and other Astroworld Festival performers are being sued. According to Billboard, the first lawsuit filed by concertgoer Manuel Souza says that the “defendants failed to properly plan and conduct the concert in a safe manner.”
Souza was injured while at the concert. However, his injuries were not specified.
The lawsuit continued, saying, “Instead, they consciously ignored the extreme risks of harm to concertgoers and, in some cases, actively encouraged and fomented dangerous behaviors.” It can only be assumed that this won’t be the first lawsuit Scott and other people involved in the festival will face.
The suit went on to slam Scott and promoters for keeping the show going even as emergency vehicles entered the scene to care for people. “Eventually, due to defendants’ active decision to let the show go on, the scene devolved into a complete melee, resulting in the needless, untimely death of at least eight people and injuries to scores of others,” the document said.
Souza is accusing Scott and organizers of negligence and is seeking at least $1 million in damages. “This kind of thing is not supposed to happen.”