Festival-goer dies after attending Lollapalooza

Plus attendees Sunday report heightened security during music fest’s final day in Grant Park.

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Street closures around Grant Park begin Monday, July 31, 2023, for Lollapalooza, which will be held Aug. 3-6.

The person was taken from the festival in critical condition due to a medical emergency and died at the hospital, the OEMC said.

File photo

For the second consecutive year, a festival-goer has died after attending the four-day music festival Lollapalooza in Grant Park.

The person was taken from the event in critical condition Saturday night and died in the hospital, an Office of Emergency Management and Communications official said.

“We were saddened to learn that an individual transported from the event in critical condition last night due to a medical emergency has since passed away at the hospital,” OEMC spokesperson Melissa Stratton said.

The circumstances of the attendee’s death are still under investigation and details were not available, the OEMC said.

Also, a West Virginia man was arrested Thursday after assaulting an EMS employee at the festival and damaging government property, Chicago police said.

Benjamin Shorb, 25, was charged with two felonies — aggravated battery of a government employee and criminal damage to property worth between $500 and $10,000, police said.

Photo of Benjamin Shorb

Benjamin Shorb

Chicago police

Shorb was leaving the festival about 8:10 p.m. when he approached officers saying “he was having a bad trip,” prosecutors said Saturday at his bond hearing.

Officers summoned a paramedic and, while being treated, he assaulted them and broke a tablet belonging to the city, prosecutors said.

Judge David Navarro ordered him be held on $3,000 bail, and he is expected back in court Aug. 8.

As of Saturday, the OEMC reported four arrests, five citations relating to criminal trespassing and 30 EMS transports, primarily alcohol related. One such instance occurred in a VIP area before Lil Wayne’s performance.

A security supervisor approached someone who did not have the proper credentials for the area and the person became combative, striking the supervisor, Stratton said. The supervisor received minor injuries and was treated onsite.

Festival-goers reported heightened security and a heavy police presence on the final day of the festival in the wake of two mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, over the weekend.

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