I am very sorry to have to write this, but it’s very important that the facts be put out there. We had a death at the concert on Monday night and it really didn’t have to happen. I have the story from security, the police and an individual who witnessed the whole ordeal. Their stories match up exactly. I’m sorry if this article brings more sadness to the friends and family of the deceased, but it’s important that everyone else know that they are safe. More after the hyperlink.

Here is what I can tell you about the incident. An individual, who appeared to be drunk or had been drinking, was stopped at security for having a knife. At some point he got agitated and threw the knife at security and started running. He was told to stop several times by security and police. He ran past several fences and barricades before either running off the roof or attempting to jump roof to roof. Police tried to administering CPR but were unable to revive him. This was witnessed by several people, including some innocent bystanders backstage (including Volbeats new guitarist).

I can’t tell you why the guy ran or what was going through his mind. I’m not making any judgments. This guy was running from officials in a clearly marked and/or fenced off area. He was told to stop. There’s just no good reason why this happened. The point is, the area where this happened is nowhere near any of the areas EVER used by concerts (back behind the giant building with "Winchester" on the side). It’s important that the moms and dads and brothers and sisters out there know this wasn’t a guy dancing or fooling around who had an accident. The guy did not fall. He jumped. There is a big difference between the two. This was on a side of the property that is NEVER used and hasn’t been used in about six years. This guy was running from officials in a clearly off limits area.

I am so sorry to friends and family that this happened, but the blame rests squarely on the shoulders of the individual who chose to run in a dangerous area. It’s not fair that some, including the news media, will try to portray this as some type of dangerous environment. It’s not. If someone jumped over a fence and off your two story roof, you wouldn’t be to blame, now would you? That is why it is horribly unfair to place this tragedy at the feet of the venue, police or security.

I would ask that everyone who comments on this article please be respectful. Somewhere out there are still friends and family who are hurting over this situation.

{Update-Apparently the man was trying to sneak into the concert with a knife. Not "forgot he had a knife", but made an effort to conceal a weapon to take into the concert. I am not casting an aspersions on what if any reason why he was doing this, but it was the first of the bad decisions that led to his death}

{Update #2-Of all the inane questions, the one that gets to me is 'why did officials follow him to a dangerous area?". The short answer is, that's their job. They had an erratic man known to have had one weapon running through a dangerous gated area towards the bands and fans. It was their duty to protect one and all. Their orders for the man to "halt" and "stop" were not heeded resulting in this man causing his own death. This could have just as easily have been a story about how an armed man ran past security and stabbed a bunch of people}.