Man Accused of Killing Engaged Couple in Music Festival Mass Shooting Was Hallucinating on Mushrooms: Docs

The man accused of the mass-shooting that killed two and injured three others outside an  electronic dance music festival in Washington State last weekend believed “that the world was ending,” according to probable cause documents obtained by several outlets. 

Before heading to the festival at the Gorge Amphitheatre with his girlfriend Saturday, the suspect, James M. Kelly, 26, an active duty member of the U.S. Army based out of Joint Base Lewis McCord, allegedly took a dose of psychedelic mushrooms and had “a bad hallucination experience” according to reporting by King5 on the documents. 

“This is the end,” the channel reported he told his girlfriend several times, citing the documents.

The suspect allegedly thought “that he needed to return to his camp immediately,” with his girlfriend, according to The Seattle Times.

Earlier this week, the suspect appeared by video from jail for a hearing at Grant County Superior Court. He is charged with two counts of murder and several counts of assault.

The suspect allegedly began firing into the campground – several hundred yards from the concert – last Saturday shortly before 8:30 p.m., authorities have said. Struck and killed were Brandy Escamilla and Josilyn Ruiz, an engaged couple from Seattle who were planning to attend the concert.

“The shooter continued to shoot randomly into the crowd,” Kyle Foreman, of the Grant County Sheriff’s Office, said in a video press conference posted to Facebook within hours of the June 17 shooting.

The suspect then allegedly struck another man – Andrew J. Caudra, 31, of Eugene, Ore. – in the shoulder, prompting the suspect's girlfriend, Lily A. Luksich, 20, to call 911, saying her boyfriend had a gun, The Seattle Times reported.

The suspect allegedly continued shooting into the crowd, his girlfriend beside him. Lori Williams, 61, was working in crowd management and responded to the report of shots fired, law enforcement says. The suspect allegedly turned the gun on Williams, firing at her “multiple times” Captain Brian Chance of the Wenatchee Police Department said in a press statement. A bullet pierced her windshield, striking her in the right side of her face, shattering her glasses and causing bruising and lacerations. Williams was treated and released at the scene, Chance said.

By the time officers had tracked the suspect and his girlfriend to an agricultural field near the campground, the suspect had allegedly turned the gun on Luksich, hitting her twice in the lower body, law enforcement said.

At the field, Moses Lake Police Department Detective Edgar Salazar, 35, formerly of the Marine Corps., shot the suspect once, injuring him. Officers swarmed the area, separating the suspect from Luksich, who was taken to the hospital, treated for her wounds and released. After the suspect was treated for his injuries, he was discharged and booked into Grant County Jail, where he is being held without bail.

It was not immediately clear if he has entered a plea.