Astroworld 2021 Update: Officer ‘Pricked’ While Restraining Crowd

A security officer who was present during the fatal crowd surge at the Astroworld Festival in Texas had to be injected with an anti-opioid medication during the event after he suddenly fell unconscious, police said.

The unnamed officer was attempting to restrain or grab someone during the incident at Houston's NRG Park Friday when he felt a prick on his neck and lost consciousness, ABC 13 reported, citing city police chief Troy Finner.

Medical staff examined the unconscious security officer and administered Narcan, an emergency treatment for opioid overdoses, Finner said. The officer was revived and staff later noticed there was a prick on his neck, according to the police chief.

"A lot of narratives out there right now. A lot of them. We just ask that y'all give us time to do a proper investigation," Finner was quoted as saying by Business Insider.

Several Narcan administrations happened at the Astroworld Festival, according to medical staff present at the event.

Peter Davidson, an associate professor of medicine at the University of California San Diege and expert on drug overdoses, claimed it was "pretty unlikely" that the security officer was injected with drugs.

"If it did happen, it would be staggeringly rare. This is not typically the way that people assault one another," Davidson said.

Dr. Ryan Marino, the medical director of toxicology and addiction medicine at the University Hospitals in Cleveland, also said that stories about people trying to inject others with needles are "almost always nothing more than urband legends and are not borne in reality."

The incident at Friday's Astroworld Festival saw its 50,000 attendees rush toward the venue's stage during rapper Travis Scott's set, which resulted in eight concertgoers being killed and hundreds getting injured.

Seven of the deceased victims have been identified. At least 13 people, including five minors, were still hospitalized following the incident.

Authorities in Texas opened a criminal investigation into the fatal surge Saturday.

Fans have accused the Astroworld Festival organizers of ignoring pleas to shut down the concert following the fatalities.

Scott has since been sued over the incident. He claimed he was unaware of the result of the crowd surge until he ended his set.