Dennis RomeroUpdated at the bottom with a statement from HARD 's organizers. First posted at 2:16 p.m.
See our latest: HARD Summer Death: Victim Identified as Jonathan M. Reyes.
A young man died at the HARD Summer festival downtown last night, a police official told LA Weekly.
An overdose was suspected, the official said. It appeared to have happened in front of fellow concertgoers at Los Angeles State Historic Park. Artist Flying Lotus, who was scheduled to go on at 10:25 p.m., tweeted this:
Damn. I saw a guy die before I played my set. Heavy.
— FLYLO (@flyinglotus) August 4, 2013
Flying Lotus performed on the Harder Stage, across from the main stage.
L.A. Fire Department spokeswoman Katherine Main said paramedics responded to 1200 N. Spring Street, “at the venue,” at 10:30 p.m.
She told the Weekly the victim was “reported to be in cardiac arrest:”
A 25-year-old male was found unresponsive, pulseless and non-breathing at the venue by a team of veteran LAFD paramedics. He was transported in grave condition to L.A. County-USC Medical Center.
A spokeswoman for the hospital told us she couldn't release any information without the victim's name. A coroner's official said the case “has not been reported to us yet” and that she had no documentation on it this afternoon.
Credit: HARD's Saturday schedule via HARD.
Main said LAFD paramedics took two others from the venue to hospitals as a result of unspecified medical emergencies. She said event staff treated 34 people on-site, ostensibly for minor ailments.
Credit: File photo of HARD by Timothy Norris for LA Weekly.
The festival sold out with 70,000 tickets available and continues for a second day Sunday with a mix of electronic dance music (Duck Sauce) and hip-hop (2 Chainz).
[Update at 4:11 p.m.]: Concert promoter Live Nation, which organizes HARD, sent the Weekly this statement:
During Saturday evening's event held at Los Angeles State Historic Park, a patron experienced cardiac distress and sadly passed away at the hospital. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.
Our guests' safety and well being is of paramount importance at every Live Nation event. We have skilled EMT's, police, and security staff deployed on site to respond to any emergency situation and last night members of this emergency team were with this patron and administering CPR within two minutes of notification. We work closely with local health and safety authorities to plan for emergencies and set the appropriate staffing levels for each event.
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