Christina Grimmie dead: Former Voice contestant dies after man shoots her then kills himself
Grimmie came in third place on season 6 of 'The Voice,' NBC's singing competition, which aired in 2014
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Your support makes all the difference.Singer Christina Grimmie has died after being shot at a concert venue in Florida by a man who then shot and killed himself, her publicist has confirmed.
Orlando Police Department officials told WKMG-TV that the 22-year-old was shot on Friday night at The Plaza Live, where she was scheduled to perform.
Grimmie and members of the American pop rock band Before You Exit, who also performed on the night, were signing autographs after a concert when a male suspect opened fire.
The singer was taken to hospital in critical condition but died of her injuries.
Police called the shooting a "very tragic event" and praised Grimmie's brother as "a hero".
“Upon arrival officers found the male suspect, who was deceased and one victim who was gravely injured. That victim, singer Christina Grimmie, was transported to the hospital with critical injuries,” Orlando Police told E! News.
They said Grimmie's brother tackled the shooter, who then shot himself, and that the suspect had two guns.
“It is with a heavy heart that we can confirm that Christina has passed and went home to be with the Lord,” her publicist Heather Weiss said in a statement, according to NBC. “We ask at this time that you respect the privacy of her family and friends in their time of mourning.”
Witnesses descibed a harrowing scene in the moments after the shooting.
Juana Villegas told BNO News: "We were waiting out there to go see [Christina Grimmie] come out at the back of the venue, and then we saw security running. Then a girl comes out hysterically crying and she said someone shot themselves next to her."
No further information was immediately available, and an investigation is continuing.
Grimmie, a New Jersey native, finished third during season six of NBC's The Voice.
Addtional reporting by AP
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