MASON, Ohio — A University of Dayton senior with ties to Mason was killed at the Astroworld Festival in Houston on Friday when a crowd surged toward the stage.
Franco Patino, who majored in mechanical engineering technology, was working with an engineering co-op program in Mason, according to a release from the University of Dayton. Patino was one of eight people killed at the concert when the crowd of 50,000 people surged toward the stage. He was from Naperville, Illinois.
Patino, 21, was a member of Alpha Psi Lambda, a Hispanic interest fraternity, as well as the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers at UD. He was also working on a minor in human movement biomechanics.
He attended the concert with his hometown best friend Jacob Jurninek, 20, of Naperville, Illinois, who was also killed during the crowd surge. Both had graduated from Neuqua Valley High School. The two went to Astroworld specifically to see rapper Travis Scott to celebrate Patino's birthday.
In an interview with WLS-TV in Chicago, Patino's father Julio said he was working on a new medical device that could help his mother walk again after she was injured in an auto accident two years ago.
UD is providing counselors for students.
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