Singer Christina Grimmie, the former YouTube star who rose to fame on ‘The Voice’, was shot dead at her concert in Orlando, Florida. She was earlier reported to be fighting for her life. The shooter took his own life at the scene.
"It is with a heavy heart that we can confirm that Christina has passed and went home to be with the Lord. She was shot at her show in Orlando and, unfortunately, didn't survive the gun shot wounds. We ask at this time that you respect the privacy of her family and friends in their time of mourning. If you'd like to give back to Christina's family in her memory, please consider donating to the families GoFundMe page in their time of need," her representative said in a statement, as cited by ABC.
Grimmie, 22, was performing the show at The Plaza Live concert venue with her pop band Before You Exit when the shooting happened. The actual incident took place as she was signing autographs after the show.
The unidentified gunman, whose motive remains unclear, reportedly managed to fire off five bullets before he was tackled by the singer’s 22-year-old brother. The assailant somehow managed to fatally shoot himself afterwards.
Orlando police officials said at a conference the singer was shot around 10:45pm on Friday. According to the statement, the shooter had two guns in his possession. No further information was provided.
Witnesses told the Orlando Sentinel of hearing five gunshots. Josh Call, who worked a vegan hot dog stand outside the venue, was among the first to rush in after hearing the shots. He saw Grimmie’s body on the ground, with blood streaming from her head, and another person injured nearby.
He added that a man was also lying in a pool of blood, his face “completely disfigured.”“I don’t think anyone expected something like this to happen. It was horrifying,” he said.
Grimmie was earlier reported in critical condition, before her representative confirmed the bad news online.
The New Jersey native first entered America’s hearts at the tender age of 15, when she started shooting videos and posting them on YouTube. She did covers of popular songs from the likes of Adele and Miley Cyrus, before finally making it big on NBC’s ‘The Voice’ in 2014, where she finished in third place. The budding star was coached by Maroon 5’s Adam Levine.