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The suspect, identified as 27-year-old Kevin James Loibl of
St. Petersburg, Florida, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound
after he was tackled by the 22-year-old singer's brother in the
Friday evening attack, Orlando police said.
Loibl is believed to have traveled to Orlando for the event. He
had two loaded handguns, additional ammunition and a hunting
knife at the time of the shooting, police said.
Orlando Police Chief John Mina told reporters the suspect did
not appear to have a criminal record and there was no indication
he and Grimmie knew each other. Mina said it appeared he may
have been a deranged fan.
"We believe he came here to commit this crime," Mina said.
Grimmie, who had just performed as the opening act for the band
Before You Exit, was inside the Plaza Live concert hall signing
autographs at the time of the shooting.
The suspect approached Grimmie and opened fire. He was then
rushed by the singer's brother.
"Her brother, Marcus, is a hero and possibly saved countless
other lives. He is not injured," Orlando police said in a
statement, adding there were about 120 people at the venue at
the time.
Christina Grimmie was taken to a local hospital in critical
condition and died early Saturday morning. The suspect died at
the scene of the shooting.
Although patrons had their bags and purses checked for weapons
at the venue, there were no metal detectors and the security
guards were unarmed, Mina said.
SUPERSTAR AND LIFE PARTNER
Grimmie's brother mourned the loss of his sister in a Facebook
post on Saturday.
"Christina was more than my sister," People magazine reported
the post as saying.
"She was a partner in life. A superstar. A goofball.
Introverted. And a friend to everyone. Genuinely. But above all
... she was my baby sister. I honestly don't know what I'll do
without her," he wrote in the post.
A note expressing condolences was posted on the door of the
Loibl home in St. Petersburg, the Tampa Bay Times and local
broadcaster WFLA reported.
"Deepest sorrow for lost (sic) to the family, friends & fans of
the very talented, loving Christina Grimmie. No other comments,"
it read.
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The attack, the latest high-profile shooting to rock the country,
drew a quick response from anti-gun activists.
"While the details of this shooting are still being investigated,
one thing we already know is that there is so much more Florida
policymakers can do to prevent gun violence and keep guns out of
dangerous hands," said Dan Gross, the president of the Brady
Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
A New Jersey native, Grimmie first gained attention several years
ago for her YouTube videos featuring covers of pop songs, which drew
millions of views. In 2014, she placed third on the "The Voice," a
singing competition broadcast on NBC.
Fans took to social media to express their sorrow, with the hashtag
#RIPChristina trending on Twitter.
"There are no words," tweeted "The Voice" early on Saturday. "We
lost a beautiful soul with an amazing voice."
Josh Kaufman, who beat out Grimmie to win the 2014 season of "The
Voice," tweeted, "My deepest and most sincere condolences go out to
the family of @TheRealGrimmie. Such a tragic loss."
Grimmie's own Twitter account still showed a video she posted on
Friday asking fans to come out to see her perform. Her account
tweeted a simple message Saturday morning: "The end." The post was
retweeted more than 65,000 times within an hour.
Her killing was reminiscent of the 1995 fatal shooting of Selena
Quintanilla-Perez, a 23-year-old singer best known as Selena.
Already an established star, Selena was gunned down in a Texas motel
by the founder of her fan club.
Last month, Japanese pop star Mayu Tomita, 20, was repeatedly
stabbed during a fan event at a Tokyo train station but survived the
attack. Police charged a 27-year-old man with attempted murder.
(Additional reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee and Jon
Herskovitz in Austin, Texas; Editing by Paul Simao and Alan Crosby)
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