On June 10, 2016, American singer- songwriter, Christina Grimmie, was shot and killed by 27-year-old Kevin James Loibl while she was singing autographs following her performance with Before You Exit at The Plaza Live in Orlando. Loibl was tackled by Grimmie’s brother, but the gunman broke free, backed against a wall, and shot himself dead. Grimmie was known for her participation in the NBC singing competition The Voice and for her covers of hit songs by contemporary pop musicians.
Loibl brought two handguns, two extra magazines full of ammunition, and a hunting knife with him to the venue and police say he went there specifically to commit this crime. Loibl had shown an “unrealistic infatuation” with the singer, and tried to make himself more physically attractive through weight loss, and hair and eye surgery.
The theater where Grimmie was performing was a gun-free theater. Now, the Grimmie family has filed a lawsuit against the theater, claiming negligent security on the part of the venue. The premise of the lawsuit is if a property owner bans law abiding citizens with guns, then the property owner should be responsible if a tragedy like this one occurs.
The lawsuit states: “The owners of the facility in which she performed and the outside security company hired to provide security for the concert … failed to take adequate security measures to ensure the safety of the performers and the attendees at the concert venue.” The security company is not named, but additional defendants include “ABC Corporation, John Doe and Jane Doe.”
It is alleged that the killer knew that “no guns” signage would keep law-abiding gun owners out. Nothing deterred him and he was able to freely walk up to the 22-year-old singer and shoot her dead. The suit claims security provided “superficial bag checks with no body pat downs. We are hopeful that our lawsuit will bring widespread attention to the issue of concert security and safety and more effective safeguards will be implemented to protect performers and attendees at concerts around the U.S. in the future,” the suit also reads. “Gun-free” zones create victims, not safety.
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