jun 10, 2016 - Murder of Christina Grimmie

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On June 10th, 2016, Grimmie performed with the band Before You Exit at the Plaza Live in Orlando, Florida. After her performance ended at 10:00 p.m. local time, Grimmie held a meet-and-greet with her fans inside the venue. Fans were lined up as Grimmie signed autographs and took selfies with them. At 10:24 p.m., 27-year-old Kevin James Loibl, who was in line, approached Grimmie when it was his turn. She opened her arms to hug him. Loibl then pulled out a Glock pistol and shot her three times at point-blank range. Grimmie's brother, who was selling merchandise at a nearby table, jumped towards and tackled Loibl, and the men scuffled; Loibl broke free, backed against a wall, pulled out another pistol and shot himself in the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Grimmie was on the floor bleeding from the back of her head, with a weak pulse. After CPR was performed on her by an attending physician, she was taken to the Orlando Regional Medical Center in critical condition; by 10:59 p.m., she was pronounced dead. An autopsy performed the following day concluded that Grimmie had been shot once in the head and twice in the chest.

The Orlando Police Department said Loibl had traveled by taxi to Orlando from his home in St. Petersburg, Florida, bringing two handguns, two extra magazines full of ammunition, and a large hunting knife. Orlando police chief John Mina stated that "The suspect traveled to Orlando apparently to commit this crime and then had plans to travel back to where he came from." According to Orlando police, the bags of the attendees would normally have been checked, but there were no metal detectors at the venue, nor were the attendees frisked.

One witness complained that the security was concerned about food and beverages being brought into the theater, but did not catch Loibl's guns. Witnesses described Loibl as "nervous" and "kinda creepy".

Loibl had purchased the guns legally. He did not have an arrest record in his home county of Pinellas, but did have previous run-ins with the police. He did not appear to know Grimmie personally, nor did Grimmie know him. He had not had any diagnosis of any mental illnesses, but had a history of violence.

Police did not offer a motive, but said that Loibl had shown an "unhealthy and unrealistic infatuation" with the singer and tried to make himself more physically attractive to her through weight loss, hair transplants, teeth whitening and eye surgery. The Orlando Sentinel described his motive as "If I can't have you, then nobody else can – and I'm going to possess you by taking your life." Although Loibl lived "like a hermit", his family said that they were not aware of his plans to travel to Orlando nor that he possessed any guns. They also stated that they had never heard of Grimmie, heard Loibl talk about her, nor watched The Voice. However, his "only friend in the world" claimed to have known about Loibl's obsession, though not its extent; Loibl's co-workers stated the same. They said Loibl would be "angry and defensive" when questioned about his obsession with Grimmie and before the shooting had stated he was "tired and ready to ascend".

On June 16th, Grimmie was buried at Berlin Cemetery in a private ceremony. Her former coach from The Voice, Adam Levine, contributed to funeral costs. The following day, thousands of friends and fans attended a public memorial held in Medford, New Jersey.

Grimmie's death led to calls for increased security at performing arts venues, and also created a discussion about gun control and mental health. American heavy metal band Pantera, noting the similarities between Grimmie's murder and the deaths of former Pantera guitarist Darrell Abbott and three others in 2004, urged concert promoters and club owners to impose stronger measures to protect artists from "gun-wielding fanatics", adding: "Sadly, that's not the case and another rising star had to pay the consequences with her life."

On June 23rd, Billboard magazine published an open letter advocating gun control, addressed to the United States Congress, demanding that universal background checks become federal law, referring to Grimmie's death and also the Pulse nightclub shooting, which happened less than 30 hours after Grimmie's death and killed 49. The petition carried nearly 200 signatures of famous musicians and music industry executives.

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