UPDATED: Majority of hospitalized people from Electric Daisy Carnival were transported for drug-related issues

A city memo again suggests that the proper security was in place.

Photo by Josh Hogan

Electric Daisy Carnival was a fantasy for the senses.

FAIR PARK — The Electric Daisy Carnival on Saturday in Dallas ended in the death of 19-year-old Argyle resident Andrew Graf, with at least one still in critical condition, and with two dozen taken to Dallas-Fort Worth hospitals. Pegasus News writer Josh Hogan was on the scene for much of the evening. The discussion about the alleged “rave” largely takes two sides:

Viewpoint No. 1, held by several Pegasus News commenters and our on-site Pegasus News writer: Event security was tight and the concert was fun, despite the fact that it ended in tragedy.

Viewpoint No. 2, held by Dallas Fire-Rescue: The concert was chaotic and not well planned.

Whether Viewpoint No. 1 or 2 is correct can't necessarily be proven. We will continue reporting on other potential deaths at the concert, as well as information from the fire department and the concert promoters.

Meantime, the city sent a memo explaining exactly what happened between 8 p.m. and 3:30 a.m. – the hours in which the fire department described the scene as “chaos.” From the city of Dallas:

Photo by Josh Hogan

The crowd at Electric Daisy Carnival was mostly teenagers and young adults.

At approximately 8:30 PM Lieutenant Dortch was notified of the death related transport. Patrons were continuing to arrive in a steady manner. Central Patrol Division was contacted and 4th watch elements were assigned to the perimeter of Fair Park to monitor patrons entering the park. Additionally, Central Patrol Division was notified to place a response team on stand-by for precautionary measures. A call was placed for and additional sergeant and 10 officers for supplementary staffing for the remainder of the event. By 11:00 PM total off-duty staffing had increased to a total of 47 DPD officers. The on duty resources were notified and additional off-duty staffing was increased due to the flow of patrons arriving at the venue.

At approximately 10:30 PM the DPD incident commander, DFR, and Doctor Benitez met concerning the public health aspect of this event. By then there had been 12 to 15 transports as well one possible drug related death. All parties agreed the event could be suspended due to public health issues, however concerns of civil unrest possibly arising due to abruptly ending the event was also discussed. Unified Command decided not to enact a “hard close” of the event, but developed a plan to enact a “soft close” (gradual early close of the event). Ticket sales were stopped at this time thus closing the event to new arrivals.

Deputy Chief Watson, Duty Commander, was contacted at 11:15 PM and apprised of the situation. He responded immediately and was at the location by 11:30 PM.

The “soft close” plan was enacted at 12:00 AM and the Centennial Building portion of the venue was secured by 12:30AM with no incidents.

A “soft close” of the Automobile Building was enacted at 1:00 AM and the building was secure at 1:30AM with no incidents. By 1:30 AM approximately one third of the patrons had exited the venue with no incidents.

The outside portion of the event closed at 2:00 AM in an orderly manner.

… DPD staffing was dismissed at 2:45AM. DFR staffing was dismissed at 3:30 AM.

The city reports two arrests: one for public intoxication and one for possession of ecstasy. The issue of whether or not the death and hospitalizations were a result of drug over-use is still being investigated.

We could not get Insomniac Events organizer Erika Raney on the phone because she is planning for the Las Vegas Electric Daisy Carnival on June 24, 25, and 26, but she sent an email update on Monday afternoon that estimated that 23,600 people attended the concert in Dallas. Fair Park can officially hold about 43,000 people.

UPDATE: Jason Evans of Dallas Fire-Rescue explains why overcrowding was an issue despite the fact that attendance levels didn't reach capacity: "Despite the fact that the overall number of attendees was not surpassed, each building had its own occupancy load, and those of the Centennial and Automobile buildings were exceeded," he said in a statement.

A "majority of patients" taken to area hospitals were transported for drug-related issues, according to Evans. Five local hospitals treated a total of 30 people -- 27 males and 3 females.

15 were taken to Baylor
10 were taken to Parkland
3 were taken to Dallas Methodist
1 was taken to Dallas Regional
1 was taken to Doctor’s Hospital

Evans also sent an update that there were not two citations issued, as previously reported. Seven were issued: two for overcrowding, two for failure to obtain a count of occupants, and three for obstruction of justice.

"The obstruction of justice came as a result of refusing to comply with turning on the lights and turning down the music for better crowd control," Evans said in a statement.