USA Today — The Voice singer Christina Grimmiewas fatally shot by a 27-year-old white male — armed with two guns and a knife — who traveled to Orlando from another city in Florida specifically to kill her, police said Saturday. Orlando police identified the suspected gunman as Kevin James Loibl, 27, of St. Petersburg, Fla.
Grimmie, who had wrapped up her show with Before You Exit at the Plaza Live Theater, was shot late Friday while signing autographs and meeting fans. Loibl shot and killed himself after he was tackled by Grimmie’s brother, Marcus. The 22-year-old singer died about five hours later at an Orlando hospital.
Mina said detectives hoped to get information from the suspect’s phone to help establish a motive for the killing. Detectives were sent to the suspect’s home city to search his residence and any computers or other evidence. A fan of Christina Grimmie, Sheina Amaguer, describes what she saw and heard during the shooting of “The Voice” singer who was killed while signing autographs after a concert in Orlando, Florida.Orlando club suspends all events after Christina Grimmie shooting
Grimmie’s brother called ‘hero’ for tackling shooter. Mina indicated the suspect planned to leave Orlando by some form of public transportation, such as plane, train or bus. “There is is no car that we are looking for,” Mina said. “He did make travel arrangements to get back where he was going.”
Police said the suspect was carrying two handguns, additional ammunition and a large hunting knife. The shooting occurred near the back of the venue around 10 p.m. while Grimmie was hosting a meet-and-greet for fans. There were about 120 people in the theater at the time.Christina Grimmie covers that will give you chills
The Plaza Live canceled all activities and events at the venue until further notice. “The board and the staff at The Plaza Live Venue are deeply saddened by the tragic events of Friday evening,” the theater said in a statement on its Facebook page. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those lost as well of those who witnessed and aided in the recovery after this senseless act.”
Police spokeswoman Wanda Miglio called Grimmie’s brother a hero, crediting him with stopping the suspect from hurting anyone else. Fans who saw Christina Grimmie Friday are in disbelief, react to her death. Yesenia Camacho, of Tampa, said she heard the gun shots but they didn’t sound like she would have expected.
“It’s not the movie-type gunshots. It’s this banging or popping and three times in a row, echoed,” she said. “It seemed fake. It seemed like the guys were just doing a little prank just to scare everyone and just to joke around and we were just waiting for someone to laugh and for them to comeback and tell us, you know we were just playing with you guys.”
Sheina Almaguer, from Kissimmee, was in the audience for the show and said Grimmie “sang her heart out.” She did it for people to smile,” she said,. “She was inspirational.” Almaguer said she was standing near the tour buses when the incident occured and she thought at first it might be a prank.
“A few minutes later, people were just running out and this one girl comes and cries on the floor,” she said. Grimmie, who built up a huge fan base YouTube, appeared on season six of The Voice in 2014 where she finished in third place. #PrayforChristina started trending on Twitter as friends, fans and other singers hoped for the singer to pull through. Police announced early Saturday she had died from her injuries.
“There are no words,” The Voice tweeted. “We lost a beautiful soul with an amazing voice. Our hearts go out to the friends, fans and family of @TheRealGrimmie.” Fans and celebrities have expressed their grief and outrage on social media as they learned of Grimmie’s death. Brian Teefey, of Grimmie’s management company. LH7 Management, said “words cannot begin to describe the pain I am feeling.”
“I learned this business through the eyes of a father and Christina was like a second daughter to me,” he said in a statement. “All I wanted to do was assist her in achieving her musical dreams while protecting her from the pitfalls associated with the business. I never could have imagined this horrific event being one of the pitfalls needing to be avoided.”
Be First to Comment