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8 year oldChristina Grimmie Was Targeted, Likely By A Deranged Fan, Police Say
UP-DATE 8:05 AM WITH POLICE CONFERENCE Orlando Police Chief John Mina told reporters this morning that the 21-year-old male suspected of killing Christina Grimmiewas a Florida resident who traveled within the state to Orlando with the intent of murdering the former Voice contestant. Asked by a reporter whether the killer was “a deranged fan,” Mina said the c-haracterization was “speculation, but that’s what it’s looking like.”
The suspect, who was not publicly identified but most likely will be later today, was armed with two small-calibre handguns and a large hunting knife, Mina said at the press conference. The police chief said that no known video exists of the violent incident, that the suspect was traveling alone, and that police were examining the dead suspect’s cell phone and computer for clues and social media evidence.
Mina said police believe the suspect killed himself after the scuffle with Grimmie’s brother, but left open the possibility that the suspect’s death resulted f-rom the scuffle itself. “We believe at this time he killed himself.”
The music venue, Orlando’s The Plaza Live, did not use metal detectors or pat-downs on people entering the concert, Mina said, adding that the venue employed unarmed security guards for concerts.
Earlier today, The Voice‘s Adam Levine posted his hopes for Grimmie on Instagram:
UP-DATE 12:00 AM: Singer and former The Voice contestant Christina Grimmie, 22, has died f-rom injuries sustained f-rom being shot earlier tonight while signing autographs following her performance in Florida music venue The Plaza Live, Orlando Police have confirmed.
The Voice put out a statement at 12:35 AM on its FB page saying: “There are no words. We lost a beautiful soul with an amazing voice. Our hearts go out to the friends, fans and family of Christina Grimmie.”
Anita Busch contributed to this article.
PREVIOUS 11:35 PM: Christina Grimmie, a finalist on NBC’s The Voice season 6, is hospitalized and in critical condition after being shot by an unidentified assailant in Orlanda, Florida music venue The Plaza Live, authorities have confirmed.
Local police told WKMG-TV that the assailant was then tackled by Grimmie’s brother before turning the gun on himself, and was declared dead at the scene. The attack occurred at 10:45 PM Eastern while Grimmie, who had performed earlier in the evening, was signing autographs near the venue’s merchandise booth. No motive for the attack has been made public. Conflicting reports about the singer’s condition have been making the rounds of social media, but no further information about the shooting has been made available at this time.
‘It was quick like pow, pow, pow, pow,” a local man who worked on the scene told The Orlando Sentinel.
The 22 year old New Jersey native appeared on The Voice in 2014, finishing in third place. She was signed to Adam Levine’s 222 Records label after her stint on the show and was for a brief time also signed to Island Records. She released her second EP in February, 2014. Grimmie is also a major presence on Youtube with 3.1 million followers and videos with views exceeding 10 million, 2.8 million Facebook followers and 653K followers on Twitter.
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