North Coast Music Festival targeted by threat, organizers say

Kate Daly/For the Sun-Times

Police and organizers of the popular North Coast Music Festival, an annual event held Labor Day weekend in the Chicago area, said they are monitoring threats made to individuals and artists associated with the festival.

The electronic and hip-hop music festival’s account tweeted a statement in response to a warning of a shooting at the festival, scheduled for September 2-4 in Bridgeview, saying organizers have contacted law enforcement and “are handling it with the utmost seriousness.”

In the initial tweet warning of violence, screenshots of what appeared to be a Facebook post describing a shooting at the festival included racial slurs and referenced violence.

The festival is set to feature headliners Armin Van Buuren, Illenium and Porter Robinson.

“Someone’s mad about one of the performers,” Bridgeview Police Officer Guzy, who didn’t give her first name, told the Chicago Sun-Times. “That’s all we have so far, we’re still trying to investigate and make sure it doesn’t happen.”

The individual who made the threats will be barred from purchasing tickets or entering the festival, the statement said.

“Regardless of this issue, NCMF will have extra security on hand to put the health and safety of everyone who attends the Festival as our top priority,” the statement said.

NCMF organizers didn’t immediately respond to follow-up questions about the threat.

The reported threat comes as large-scale events are under the microscope in the wake of several high-profile mass shootings across the country, including a deadly attack at an Independence Day parade in suburban Highland Park last week where seven people were killed.