Travis Scott wasn't told his Astroworld concert had become a 'mass casualty event' during his performance, his lawyer said

• Travis Scott was never informed during his Astroworld set that cops declared a "mass casualty" event, his lawyer said.
• That declaration "absolutely did not" get to Scott or his team, attorney Edwin F. McPherson told "Good Morning America."

Travis Scott and his crew were never informed during the rapper's performance at his deadly Astroworld music festival that police had declared a "mass casualty" event at the sold-out show, Scott's lawyer said on Friday.

That declaration "absolutely did not" get to Scott or his team as Scott performed at Houston's NRG Park last Friday, the rapper's attorney, Edwin F. McPherson, said during an interview with ABC News' "Good Morning America."

Houston police declared a "mass casualty" event at Astroworld at 9:38 p.m., but Scott kept playing for nearly 40 minutes after that.

"In fact, I think we have seen footage of police half an hour later, just walking about and not looking like it was a mass casualty event, but clearly the important thing is that never got to Travis, that never got to Travis' crew," McPherson said.

McPherson added, "He's up there trying to perform. He does not have any ability to know what's going on down below, certainly on a mass level."

Nine people were killed and hundreds were injured as a result of a crowd surge at the music festival.

"Travis didn't really understand the full effect of everything until the next morning, truly," said McPherson. "He did not know what was going on."

Previous reports have said that Scott was partying at a Dave & Buster's in Houston when he found out people had died in the Astroworld crowd crush.

"There was obviously a systemic breakdown" at the concert "that we really need to get to the bottom of before we start pointing fingers at anyone," McPherson said.

The attorney also said during the "Good Morning America" interview that Scott had paused his Astroworld show at one point when he saw "one boy down" and asked security to help.

When asked about Scott's history of inciting crowds at his shows, McPherson said, "Travis as an artist has really grown up a lot. I've spoken personally to him about this and he really didn't understand the magnitude of his power up on the stage, I think, as a young performer and he has really matured over the years."

"That's why when he saw something specific, he told security to get over there and when he saw other things that were specific he made sure somebody went to help," said McPherson.