Former Voice contestant Christina Grimmie has died after being shot and critically injured following a concert in Orlando, Florida, on Friday June 10, by a man who later killed himself.
The 22-year-old, who finished third on season 6 of the NBC singing competition in 2014, was signing autographs with the band Before You Exit after their show at the Plaza Live Theater when a man walked up to her and shot her. Grimmie's brother tackled the man, who then shot himself, Orlando police confirmed.
Grimmie was transported to the hospital in critical condition. Her rep later informed Us Weekly that the singer had died.
"It is with a heavy heart that we can confirm that Christina has passed and went home to be with the Lord," the rep said in a statement. "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."
Performer Christina Grimmie was shot at concert @ Plaza Live. Grimmie's brother tackled shooter Shooter shot himself pic.twitter.com/URpjXlrOdE
— Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) June 11, 2016
With deep regret, we have confirmed Christina Grimmie, @TheRealGrimmie has died from her injuries.
— Orlando Police (@OrlandoPolice) June 11, 2016
Fans reported hearing at least six gunshots inside the venue, WFTV reports.
Orlando Sgt. Wanda Miglio said in a news conference that police received a call of shots fired at approximately 10:45 p.m. on Friday.
"The show ended at approximately 10 o'clock," Miglio told reporters. "After that they were selling merchandise and signing autographs. We know that the suspect walked up and shot Christina at that point. We know that her brother tackled the suspect, and that's when the suspect shot himself."
"Her brother is a hero for saving and stopping him from not hurting anyone else," she added.
The shooter, who was carrying two guns, has not yet been identified. "We don't know if they were friends, we don't know if he was just a crazy fan that followed her on Twitter, on social media, we really don't know," Miglio said.
"We don't know what the motive is right now," she added. "This is a very tragic event. This should have been something that was very fun and exciting, and for something like this to happen is just a tragedy."
The New Jersey native, who was a YouTube star before she auditioned for The Voice and ended up on Adam Levine's team, posted a video on Twitter before Friday's show, asking fans to come along.
https://twitter.com/TheRealGrimmie/status/741387106921140224
Voice judge Blake Shelton took to Twitter on Friday night after hearing about Grimmie's shooting, asking fans, "Is this all true? Anybody know how she's doing?"
"Can't believe this," he later tweeted as the hashtag #PrayForChristina trended, and Levine shared a photo on Instagram, writing, "I'm sad, shocked and confused. We love you so much Grimmie. We are all praying hard that you can pull through this…this just isn't fair."
Shortly after Grimmie's death, The Voice's official Twitter sent out the following message: "There are no words. We lost a beautiful soul with an amazing voice. Our hearts go out to the friends, fans and family of @TheRealGrimmie."
