On June 10, 2016, Grimmie performed with Before You Exit at The Plaza Live in Orlando, Florida.[116] After her performance ended at 10:00 p.m. local time, Grimmie signed autographs inside the venue. At 10:24 p.m., she was approached by 27-year-old Kevin James Loibl. She opened her arms to hug him.[117] Loibl then pulled his Glock pistol and shot her three times at point-blank range. Loibl was tackled by Grimmie’s brother, and the men scuffled;[118] Loibl broke free, backed against a wall, and fatally shot himself.[119][a]
Grimmie was on the floor and bleeding from the 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;[120][121][b] by 10:59 p.m., she was pronounced dead.[123] An autopsy performed the following day concluded that Grimmie had been shot once in the head and twice in the chest.[124]
The Orlando Police Department said Loibl had traveled by taxi to Orlando from his home in St. Petersburg, Florida,[123] bringing two handguns, two extra magazines full of ammunition, and a large hunting knife.[c] 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.”[125] 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.[126]
One witness complained that the security was concerned about food and beverages being brought into the theater, but did not catch Loibl’s guns.[127] Witnesses described Loibl as “nervous” and “kinda creepy”.[128]
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.[129] He did not appear to know Grimmie personally, nor did Grimmie know him.[130] He had not had any diagnosis of 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 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, nor 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.[1] The following day, thousands of friends and fans attended a public memorial held in Medford, New Jersey.[136]