First Suspected Homicide in Burning Man History Prompts Police Investigation

According to the Pershing County Sheriff, a man was found lying in a pool of blood during Burning Man’s namesake ceremony.

A man who attended this year’s edition of Burning Man in Nevada‘s Black Rock Desert was found dead during the effigy burning ceremony from which the gathering gets its name on the evening of Saturday, August 30. Police have launched a homicide investigation.

According to a statement from Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen, a deputy arrived at a campsite on the festival grounds after another attendee told them that a man was “lying in a pool of blood” there. Upon finding the man “obviously deceased,” the officer worked with Bureau of Land Management and Burning Man Project rangers to form a perimeter for forensics experts to gather evidence.

The investigation remains underway. Several Burning Man participants were interviewed, wrote Allen, noting that the area remained under heavy law enforcement presence as of Sunday, August 31.

“The identity of the decedent is unknown at this time, and he has been transported to the Washoe County Medical Examiner’s Office,” reads his statement. “Although this act appears to be a singular crime, all participants should always be vigilant of their surroundings and acquaintances.”

If confirmed to be a homicide, the death would be the first one in the history of Burning Man, which first took place on San Francisco’s Baker Beach in 1986 and moved to the Black Rock Desert in 1991. Other deaths have resulted from a plane crash in 2003, vehicle crashes in 2003 and 2014, and most recently, an asthma attack in 2024. In 2017, a man committed suicide by running into the fire of the effigy burning.

This year’s edition of Burning Man was made more challenging as a freak dust storm and subsequent rainstorms swept across the playa during the beginning of the week. During the latter, a man got electrocuted and was airlifted to a nearby hospital.

Today, September 1, and tomorrow, September 2 most of the more than 1,100 autonomous theme camps participating in Burning Man are tearing down their structures and combing their campsites for litter before vacating the Black Rock Desert.