Lollapalooza Boosts Security After California Mass Shooting

CHICAGO, IL — With Lollapalooza kicking off just days after a deadly shooting at a California festival, officials have decided to boost security measures at the four-day Chicago concert. Lollapalooza starts Thursday and is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of people.

A heavy police presence at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in California was normal procedure, Gilroy's police chief told Patch. That's why they were able to get to the shooter within a minute after he began firing, preventing further casualties. The gunman was shot and killed by police as three officers began firing on him.

"You're going to see Chicago Police Department in uniform," Rich Guidice, executive director of Chicago's Office of Emergency Management, told ABC. "You're going to see Chicago police in some of the hotels, in businesses along Michigan Avenue. We have undercover units that are assigned to this event, as you would expect."

Lollapalooza 2019: Street Closures, Weather And Musical Acts

Police also increased their presence at Lollapalooza 2018 in the wake of the deadly shooting in Las Vegas a year earlier. Authorities learned that mass shooter Stephen Paddock had booked a hotel room overlooking Chicago's Grant Park two months before the deadly Vegas shooting and may have been planning to target Lollapalooza 2017. Paddock had booked two rooms at Chicago's Blackstone Hotel during that year's Lollapalooza but never showed up.

See more on Patch:

• Lollapalooza 2018: Chicago Increases Police Presence
• Nearly 120 Hospitalized, 7 Arrested During Lollapalooza: Reports
• Gilroy Garlic Festival Suspected Gunman Shot Dead Identified

Lollapalooza rules

Festival officials are prohibiting all professional recording equipment, cigarettes and vape pens (Parks Department policy), drones, Frisbees, non-medically required coolers, glass containers and lots more.
They're allowing plenty of items, too, like GoPro cameras, binoculars, blankets, sunscreen, and plenty more.

Click for a full list of permitted and prohibited items.

Bag Policy (see the Tips page for the Lollapalooza bag policy)

All bags will be searched. Festival officials say the quickest way to get into Grant Park is to leave bags at home and use the No Bag Express Lanes.

That doesn't mean every type of bag is allowed. Here's what you can bring:

• Small purses
• Totes
• Small, single-pouch drawstring bags
• Hydration bags (like a CamelBak)
  • Must be empty of liquid and have no more than two pockets, plus the reservoir
• Officials recommend bringing water to wait in line for security and to bring an empty, refillable bottle to use the filling stations inside

Here's what you can't bring:

• Bags bigger than 14" x 11" x 5"
• Bags with more than one pocket
• Bags with more than one opening
• Backpacks

At last year's Lollapalooza, there were nearly 120 hospitalizations (mostly heat-related illnesses) and seven arrests. Temperatures are expected to hit the mid-80s during the four days of the fest.