Last June, Christina Grimmie was murdered while signing autographs after a concert in Orlando, Florida.
She was only 22 years old.
The whole thing is tragic any way you look at it — she was so young, she was killed while spending time with her fans, her death was so incredibly violent — but as we’re learning now, there’s one more awful aspect to it.
And that aspect is that, according to new legal documents filed by Christina’s family, her death could have very easily been prevented.
Christina’s parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit late last year against AEG, an entertainment company and the owners of the Plaza Live Theater, the venue where she was shot.
AEG asked the court to dismiss the suit, claiming that Christina’s family had no real reason to blame them for what happened.
These new documents are ones that the Grimmie family just filed — documents urging the court not to dismiss the case because AEG is certainly responsible for Christina’s death.
As the documents explain, “Christina’s killer, Kevin Loibl, was able to enter The Plaza Live Theater with two 9mm Glock handguns, two full magazines and a large hunting knife.”
“He was able to bring these weapons into The Plaza Live Theater notwithstanding the presence of security personnel hired by the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, who conducted bag checks at the entrance of the theater, but failed to detect Loibl’s arsenal.”
“Although the presence of security personnel demonstrates that Defendants were aware of the possibility of violent actions at the theater, including against Christina and the other performers,” proper measures weren’t taken to ensure their safety.
“The security personnel stationed at the entrance of The Plaza Live Theater did not use stationary metal detectors, metal detector wands or body pat downs to ensure that attendees at the scheduled concert did not have firearms or other weapons upon entering the theater.”
So that’s all pretty bizarre, right? These days, most venues require a bag check and a light pat down at the very least — many people can’t sneak in cameras or booze, and this guy was able to walk in with two guns?
And what’s more, when Loibl shot Christina, security guards weren’t the ones to take him down. Christina’s own brother was the one to tackle him.
“After Christina’s performance,” the legal documents explain, “while she was conducting a ‘met and greet’ with fans, Loibl fired three shots into her. His barrage was only stopped by Christina’s older brother and road manager, plaintiff Marcus Grimmie, who wrestled Loibl to the ground, before Loibl broke free and killed himself.”
“Marcus sustained a quadriceps tear on this left leg and body bruises as a result of his heroic actions, and lives with the emotional distress resulting from witnessing his sister being shot to death in front of him.”
This is important because the lawsuit also mentions Marcus’ emotional distress — which is pretty easy to understand.
The documents conclude by stating that “The simple fact is that, had defendants taken reasonable security precautions at The Plaza Live Theater, and prevented Loibl from entering with his arsenal, Christina would be alive today.”
It’s so sad that this even has to be an argument — it seems pretty obvious that the man who killed Christina shouldn’t have been able to waltz in a concert with two loaded guns.
Hopefully her family can see a little bit of justice.
