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On Saturday, June 17, 26-year-old American soldier James Kelly reportedly killed two people and wounded two others after allegedly experiencing hallucinations from the use of shrooms (a psychedelic drug), at the Beyond Wonderland Music Festival in Gorge Amphitheatre, near George, Washington. After the shooting, responding officers arrived at the scene and non-fatally shot Kelly.
Trigger warning: This article concerns gun violence, reader discretion is advised.
According to James Kelly's girlfriend, Lily Luksich (20), the former became agitated soon after taking shrooms. He supposedly believed that he was in danger, causing him to lash out and fire at the crowd.
Luksich claimed that prior to the shooting, Kelly said:
"This is the end."
James Kelly is scheduled for his first court date on Wednesday, July 5.
All there is to know about the allegations against James Kelly
According to Lily Luksich, she had been dating James Kelly for a year prior to the recent incident. Court records indicate that they attended the Beyond Wonderland Music Festival together. On the day of the shooting, James Kelly is said to have taken psychedelics before leaving his camp ground for the venue of the festival.
At the festival, Kelly told Luksich that something was amiss, and that they needed to return to the camp ground. Ourmidland reported that at the campside, he retrieved a handgun from a locked box in his pickup truck. After detecting the impending threat, Luksich attempted to call the police some time before 8:20 pm, when the initial shots were fired. As per court records:
“She told dispatch her man had a gun. Then no more information could be provided because Kelly took her phone and discarded it.”
As reported by The Rolling Stone, the deceased victims of the attack are 29-year-old Brandy Escamilla and 26-year-old Josilyn Ruiz. The couple, who had come to the festival from Seattle, were pronounced dead at the scene.
The third victim of the attack was Lori Williams, a security employee who was grazed by a bullet which struck her glasses and the side of her face. She survived with minor injuries, which were treated by first responders at the scene of the crime. The fourth victim was Luksich, who sustained two bullet wounds. She was treated at Moses Lake Hospital and has since been released.
Authorities arrived at the scene to supposedly discover Kelly and Luksich in a field near the camp site. Detective Edgar Salazar, a Lake Police Department official working undercover at the music festival, arrived at the scene and shot Kelly once. He was then transported to Spokane hospital, where he was treated for the gunshot wound before reportedly being detained in Grant County jail.
Deteective Edgar Salazar is currently being investigated internally for the shooting of Kelly. Both his and the suspect's cases are currently pending.
