Christina Grimmie, a 22-year-old singer, had her life cut short in 2016 after she was shot and died after giving a performance at The Plaza Live in Orlando.
Police in Orlando, Florida were able to identify the shooter as Kevin James Loibl after conducting an investigation.
Who was Kevin James Loibl?
Kevin James Loibl lived in St. Petersburg, Florida, and worked part-time at the neighbourhood Best Buy.
Grimmie had no history of mental illness at the time of his death, but CNN claims he lived “like a hermit.”
His odd habits included hanging heavy drapes and covering his bedroom windows with aluminium foil due to “an allergy to light.”
Grimmie was a favourite of his, and in the months before the shooting, he had become completely fixated on her.
Why Kevin James Loibl kill Christina Grimmie?
After starting to upload renditions of well-known songs on YouTube in the early 2010s, Grimmie quickly gained popularity.
Her first EP, Find Me, which she later released, assisted in her YouTube channel reaching one million subscribers.
The Just a Dream singer rose to fame after competing on Adam Levine’s team on The Voice in 2014. She came in third place that year.
Despite her celebrity, she never lost sight of her roots, which is why she frequently made time to meet with fans and sign their autographs, as she did on that tragic night at The Plaza.
When meeting their idol would have been any fan’s dream come true, Loibl chose to kill her instead while he was one of the fans present at the concert and the meet-and-greet.
He became so fixated on her in the months before she passed away that he even fantasised about being in a relationship with her.
Those who knew him best later recalled the fixation during police interviews; they even mentioned that he made a number of significant alterations to his appearances prior to the show.
According to CNN, he underwent Lasik eye surgery, had his teeth whitened, and received hair implants in addition to shedding close to 50 pounds.
Despite police claims that the attack was premeditated and a reason was never disclosed,
Marcus Grimmie, Grimmie’s brother, heroically tackled Loibl after he had shot Grimmie.
According to the police, Loible shot and killed himself during the scuffle.
Marcus may have lost his sister in the shooting, but he is credited with preventing more than 100 other people from suffering serious injuries.
“Very heroic actions by Marcus Grimmie to jump in and it definitely could have prevented further loss of life,” Orlando Police Chief John Mina said during a news conference, via CBS News.
Whether Loibl intended to kill himself after shooting Grimmie is unknown, but Mina claims that Loibl was discovered in possession of two handguns, two filled magazines, and a hunting knife.
According to reports, he had transportation to and from the Orlando show.
