DAYTON, Ohio — The University of Dayton is mourning the loss of one of its students who died in a crowd surge at rapper Travis Scott's Astroworld concert in Houston, Texas Friday evening.
Franco Patino, 21, was a senior from Naperville, Illinois who was a mechanical engineering technology major with a minor in human movement biomechanics. He was working in an engineering co-op program in Mason, Ohio.
Patino was killed at the concert, which broke out in pandemonium Friday. An estimated 50,000 people were in attendance at the two-day sold out event.
In a press conference on Saturday, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said the victim's ages ranged from 14 years old to 27 years old. Turner said the incident is being investigated to find out what happened and where missteps occurred, and said that it is too early to draw conclusions about what went wrong, but 17 people were transported to hospitals, including 11 people who were in cardiac arrest.
The Houston fire chief told reporters that the crowd began to compress toward the front of the stage, which caused some people to panic. The show was called off shortly after people began suffering injuries.
Patino was also a member of Alpha Psi Lambda, a Hispanic interest fraternity, which issued the following statement:
It is with a very heavy heart, Alpha Psi Lambda National, Inc. shares that our brother, Franco “Cuauhocelotl” Patino, has passed on to Omega Chapter. Franco joined Alpha Psi Lambda at Alpha Nu Chapter (University of Dayton) in the Spring of 2020 with Los Unidos.
On behalf of Alpha Psi Lambda National Inc., we extend our condolences to his family, friends, Alpha Nu Chapter and all that share in this loss. May his memory be eternal. Information regarding his services are not available at this moment. As we receive this information, we will pass it along.
The University of Dayton is currently planning a vigil for Petino, but the details are not yet available.
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