Fifteen-year-old Christina Grimmie finally created her YouTube channel. For years, her friends and family had been begging her to do this because Christina had an incredible voice. One day, she found herself really enjoying the song Party in the USA, so she recorded herself covering that song.
She didn’t expect it, but the video went viral immediately, and millions of people saw it. She saw this huge opportunity and began uploading more and more music to her channel, with more of her videos going viral.
Over the next four years, she amassed over two million subscribers on her YouTube channel. She put out her own album, and she even went on tour with the mega-celebrity pop star Selena Gomez.
In 2014, Christina auditioned for the TV singing competition The Voice. The show only allows a very small number of contestants, all of whom are incredibly talented musicians. Christina still managed to finish 3rd overall, but that show did wonders for her career. The judges of this competition were mega-celebrity musicians, and every time Christina was on TV performing, the judges would rave about how talented she was. They even said that even if she didn’t win this competition, someone would sign her, and sure enough, Christina was signed to a major record label.
But despite being considered a star by many masses, Christina still very much viewed herself as being a YouTuber first. In her videos, she came across as very humble, gracious, kind, and friendly, so her fans truly adored her.
By June of 2016, Christina was still growing in popularity when she was asked to be the opening act for a concert in Orlando, Florida, that was happening in June. She agreed, and on the day of the concert, on June 10th, she posted on her social media a kind of shoutout to all her fans, saying, “Hey, if you’re in the Orlando, Florida area, come out to my show, and after the show, I’m gonna stick around and sign autographs and meet you guys.”
That night, the concert venue was jam-packed, and most of the people were there for Christina and not the main act.
Christina started the show, did her performance, and then the main act went on stage. At around 10 p.m., the concert ended, and Christina came out from backstage to meet her fans and sign autographs in the crowd.
At 10:24 p.m., 27-year-old Kevin James Loibl, who was in line with the rest of her fans, 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, Marcus Grimmie, who was selling merchandise at a nearby table, jumped toward 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 would later be 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 been diagnosed with 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 for 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, or 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 16, Grimmie was buried at Berlin Cemetery in a private ceremony. The following day, thousands of friends and fans attended a public memorial held in Medford, New Jersey.
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