Dennis RomeroSee our latest: Emily Tran: Teen Who Died After Attending Hard Summer Fest ID'd
A 19-year-old woman who attended the two-day Hard Summer festival in Whittier Narrows over the weekend died this morning of a suspected drug overdose, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Lt. Fred Corral said.
The death was recorded at 5:40 a.m. at Greater El Monte Community Hospital, he told us. The woman's identity is not yet available, and the final cause of death could take weeks to determine as authorities request toxicology tests.
See also: The Best and Worst of Hard Summer 2014
Initial indications, however, point to …
]
… a drug overdose involving methamphetamine and ecstasy, Corral said.
Meth is a component of ecstasy, so it's not clear if separate drugs were involved. Corral said sheriff's officials conducted an initial test or inquiry that led them to believe those drugs might have caused the woman's death.
Credit: Timothy Norris/L.A. Weekly
Hard was held at Whittier Narrows Recreation Area this year after its previous home, Los Angeles State Historic Park, was closed for renovations.
“She was taken from Whittier Narrows to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead,” Corral said.
Coroner's officials were notified of the case at 6:04 a.m. and will perform an autopsy once they obtain the teen's body, he said.
While not exactly a rave, Hard's talent lineup featured rave-crowd favorites, including Tiesto, Skrillex, and more. Raves were shut out of the taxpayer-owned L.A. Coliseum and Sports Arena in 2010 following the ecstasy-overdose death of a 15-year-old girl who sneaked into an event that year.
See also: Jonathan Reyes' HARD Summer Death Was Not Due to Molly
Last year a Hard attendee died of natural causes after collapsing in the crowd.
Credit: Paramedics at Hard. Submitted by an L.A. Weekly reader
[Update at 2 p.m.]: Sheriff's Deputy Johnie K. Jones says there were 140 arrests at the two-day fest:
There were 73 arrests Sunday, including 13 felonies, 12 of those narcotics related, he said. Of those 12, 7 were for suspicion of drug sales, and 5 were for possession, Jones said.
On Saturday there were 67 arrests, 9 of them for alleged felonies, the deputy said. Eight of those 9 were narcotics related, he said. Six of those nine were for alleged sales, he added.
All of the suspects were cited and released, he said.
He said most of the drug-related arrests involved ecstasy and all were for Schedule I, federally outlawed narcotics. Many of the more minor arrests were made by state Alcoholic Beverage Control agents who cited minors for having fake IDs, the deputy said.
See also: Hard Summer 2014: Sunday Night
On Saturday authorities estimated there were 38,952 people at the event, Jones said. He didn't know the exact number for Sunday, but he said he believed there were more people on that second day. [Added: Jones said there were an estimated 38,217 people at the festival Sunday].
The festival also experienced some gatecrashing, as seen on a video sent to the Weekly.
[Updated at 2:14 p.m.]: A spokeswoman for Hard's organizers sent us this statement:
During Sunday evening's event held at the Whittier Narrows Recreation Area, a patron had seizures and sadly passed away at the hospital this morning. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family and friends.
Our guests' safety and well being is of great importance at every event. We have skilled EMT's, law enforcement and security staff deployed on site to respond to any emergency situation and last night members of this emergency team were with this patron within minutes and she was promptly transported after receiving the initial call. We work closely with local health and safety authorities to prepare for emergencies and set the staffing levels for each event.
Send feedback and tips to the author. Follow Dennis Romero on Twitter at @dennisjromero. Follow LA Weekly News on Twitter at @laweeklynews.
Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.