Selena Gomez has joined the chorus of those who remain stunned and sad over the death of Christina Grimmie.
Gomez, however, had an even closer bond with Grimmie than many of the fans and musicians who have expressed grief over her passing.
As previously reported, Grimmie was shot and killed on Friday night when a man approached the former Voice contestant during a meet-and-greet autograph session.
He had two guns in his possession and he opened fire as soon as he got near Grimmie.
The 22-year old died a short time later at the hospital.
The shooter, who turned the gun on himself and committed suicide soon after murdering Grimmie, has since been identified as Kevin James Loibl.
In the wake of this tragedy, Gomez has taken to Twitter in order to share the cute photo of herself and Grimmie above, while also sharing the following message about the late artist:
My heart is absolutely broken. I miss you Christina.
Grimmie – who developed a passionate following on YouTube – was actually discovered by Gomez’s stepfather, Brian Teefey, in 2010.
After the singer released her debut EP a year later, she became a supporting act for Gomez during the U.S. leg of her We Own the Night tour.
Here is a look at Grimmie and Gomez doing a promo for the Xbox 360 Kinect console in 2011:
Following Grimmie run on The Voice season 6, she reunited with the “Hands to Myself” singer for her Stars Dance tour in 2013.
It remains unclear just why Kevin James Loibl ended her life, but the working theory at the moment is that he was a deranged fan of some kind.
Utterly heartbreaking stuff.
Gomez also posted a link to a GoFundMe page established by Teefey on Saturday morning to raise money for the Grimmie family.
The account has already raised more than $ 39,000 for the artist’s family.
“Words cannot begin to describe the pain I am feeling,” Teefey wrote on the GoFundMe page.
“I learned this business through the eyes of a father and Christina was like a second daughter to me. All I wanted to do was assist her in achieving her musical dreams while protecting her from the pitfalls associated with the business.
I never could have imagined this horrific event being one of the pitfalls needing to be avoided.”
